Celebrating Runway Icons: LuisaViaRoma’s Founder and President Andrea Panconesi on 55 years of driving fashion retail forward.

Andrea Panconesi is no stranger to the world of fashion retail. Growing up in Florence, he spent most of his days with his grandmother Luisa in her store on Via Roma, learning the trick of the trade until one day he decided to take things further. In the 1970s, Panconesi had an idea to transform the family business into a conceptual avant-garde retailer, a concept that did not exist across Italy at the time. Utilising his pocketbook, he went to Paris and went into the showrooms, seeking out interesting and conceptual designers in the hopes of being at the forefront of driving culture forward. After a successful trip, LuisaViaRoma became the very first stockist in Europe to present Kenzo’s AW68 collection, unleashing a fashion revolution onto the retail space and pioneering a movement for exploration and attention towards the multitudes of genius talent coming out of different parts of the world.

Now, fifty five years later, Panconesi has grown his visionary concept into one of the biggest fashion retailers in the world, he staged one of the biggest shows across the season, highlighting fifty of the biggest designers in the world, to an audience of 2,000 people in Florence’s very own Piazzale Michelangelo with the sharp eye and support of Edward Enninful and British Vogue. The catwalk event first began in 2019, and has grown exponentially each year, turning the very heart of LuisaViaRoma into a grandeur celebration across the entire city, the place which began everything for his grandmother back in the day.

Speaking to Perfect, Andrea Panconesi reflects on seeing LVR’s growth post-COVID, what the key recipe to interacting with customers is, and pivoting towards expansion of current and new markets through events such as the Runway Icons Ball.

Angel: What is the feeling seeing LuisaViaRoma’s growth into a global lifestyle platform? How would you say the process has been for you?

Andrea Panconesi: LuisaViaRoma is now a renowned global e-tailer with an unique quality: It’s 100% Italian, it represents the Italian dream, and it started in Florence, where not only fashion started (in the famous White Hall of Pitti ) but also the hole western civilization with the Rinascimento. And it’s exactly under the David of Michelangelo where we had our multibrand fashion show with 50 brands (Tom Ford, Moncler, Alexander McQueen…) around 80 models and almost 2000 guests. Our long-standing reputation as a trusted destination for luxury fashion and lifestyle sets us apart. We were founded 94 years ago with our flagship store in Florence, which is our DNA and it’s what continues to give me a lot of inspiration and satisfaction. The store became our window to the city where everything started. Luisaviaroma.com is our window to the world.

Angel: What is the successful recipe to interacting with customers after COVID? Is there a specific way you focus on building a community?

Andrea Panconesi: LuisaViaRoma offers a seamless and personalized online shopping experience, with dedicated customer service and a strong emphasis on authenticity, quality and sustainability. We always keep consistency of style and stay true LuisaViaRoma’s unique identity. We are a specialty-concept-store strongly linked to our online platform. Both in the physical store and online you can experience a direct relationship with customers, which is a key element for our business.

Angel: Thinking about the LuisaViaRoma Runway Icons ball, what was the starting point in planning the evening?

Andrea Panconesi: The event was set to replicate the 90th anniversary celebrations of LuisaViaRoma in 2019. The show was held at dusk in the Piazzale Michelangelo with a panoramic view overlooking the city. Set to be a celebration of fashion history, the show retraced the evolution of style with 50 international brands reinterpreting their Iconic styles and with the direction of Edward Enninful OBE.  For the event in Florence, emerging and established labels were called to create looks giving a modern interpretation to iconic pieces from their archives, and every Thursday one drop of each brand will be presented on our LVR platform until November 2023.

Angel: What are you and your team focusing on for this year, how do you navigate the socioeconomic challenges on the market currently?

Andrea Panconesi: LuisaViaRoma’s growth has been boosted by a strong performance in its domestic market — where sales increased by 40 percent constantly in the past few years — and by its ever-increasing work in brand scouting and overall enhancement of our collections, now encompassing more than 600 luxury brands with highly curated selections.
Customers are now embracing ethical behavior, whether in their shopping choices or lifestyle in general. The era of disposable fashion is over, everybody wants to dress but also eat and live in a more responsible way. That’s the reason why the LVR-SUSTAINABLE section was introduced in 2019, dedicated to environmentally sustainable brands. Our next step will be the opening of a LuisaViaRoma store in New York, which is likely to happen in early Spring 2024.

Angel: How do you see LVR’s growth in your eyes? Do you have a specific vision in your mind?

Andrea Panconesi: Last year, LuisaViaRoma sales totaled around 250 million euros, of which more than 95 percent were generated online. Forecasted revenues exceed 300 million euros in 2023. I would also like to underline the importance of the U.S. market which accounts for 17 percent of LuisaViaRoma’s overall sales. This is our second largest market, after Italy, (which represents 25 percent of total revenue). Another 30 percent is generated by France, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany combined. For other future openings and projects, curiosity and change are the key. I always have my eye on what’s new and this is one of the reasons why my grandmother’s legacy is still going and will continue for years to come.