Furla’s inspired FW15 Collection is elegant and playful

Furla will be highlighting its new FW15 Collection at this year’s TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference (Stand J22). The new collection focuses on the playful side of Furla, further blurring the line between fashion and art, with inspiration taken from different types of uniform – sporty, work and college.

The colour palette is a mix of soft and feminine shades blended with elegant nuances such as petroleum green, wine red and deep yellow. In terms of materials, animal prints are key, given added spark with touches of neon brights, while the use of fur is both elegant and playful.

Leathergoods
Exclusive patterns, bold colours and innovative detail play a key role, further underscoring the ‘Made in Italy’ craftsmanship and artisanal expertise. Bursts of neon brights, glossy studs, high-gloss surfaces and abstract patterns resonate throughout the collection, making each bag glitter under the spotlight.

Daring colours and finishings characterise the top-performing Furla Metropolis Bag, a labour intensive Italian made bag of small geometric proportions that, this season, dazzles in sparking gold, silver and bronzed leathers.

Metropolis bag

Fashion meets are through the colour-blockings that cut geometric patterns across the new shape of the season: the full-grain bucket Furla Viva Bag, as well as on the Furla Piper Bag, a classic of timeless appeal innovated to cool effect via clashing blocks in up to four-tone combinations.


In homage to the popularity of the Furla Piper Bag, this season also sees the introduction of a Travel Retail Exclusive. The Piper Medium Dome is a modern bag designed to inspire women everywhere. Available in soft Ares leather in Rose, new Stucco and Storm colours, the bag is further distinguished by a special Furla charm not found within the main Furla collection and an internal plaque stating  that it is a “Limited Edition”.

Piper Medium Dome (Travel Retail exclusive)

The new season also winks at the world of sports and college uniforms, drawing inspiration from the initials or stripes typical of varsity jackets and from the patch pockets of cargo pants. Elements, including chains and metal details in bright contrasting colours, adorn the zipped front of the Furla Diana Bag, a small chain-strapped style in silver leather, perfect for the self- assured and contemporary woman.

Diana bag

New styles also join the Candy Collection which, this season, is highlighted by quirky materials that take inspiration from the world of dolls and robots. The new Candy bags are compared to pets to adopt, rather than just accessories to wear.

The colour palette is a mix of soft and feminine shades blended with precious and elegant nuances such as petroleum green, wine red and deep yellow. In terms of materials, animal prints are key, sparked up by touches of neon brights, while the furs are both elegant and playful.
 
Mens
Men also become more important in the Furla FW15 collection with the inclusion of the new Furla Modular Bag - designed to meet the need for multi-occasion versatility and understated elegance. The bag comes as a kit with two handles, two duffle sides and two tote sides that are interchangeable for a two-in-one concept. Pushing the boundaries of customization, the Furla Modular Bag can be assembled in-store and the kit can be enriched with additional pieces in different colours and materials to give it a more personal touch.

Overall, the colours nod at a gentrified palette of slate grey, black, ocean blue, fern green, brown, burnt orange, tan and tobacco brown. The supple full-grain leathers gain a contemporary and sophisticated feel via an Ares scratched print effect. Tartan, an all-time winter favourite, and a sturdy green-waxed cotton are matched with leather for a revisited city-meets-country look that is modern, cool and relaxed.

Footwear
A powerful and colourful mix of urban chic styles, the new Furla footwear collection comprises of over 50 different styles, creating a multi-occasion selection for fast-paced lifestyles and perfectly embodying Furla’s core values of Italian craftsmanship, creativity and innovation.

Key materials include brushed calfskin, patent leather, suede and calf hair in both solid and animal printed versions. From easy flats to kitten-heels to teetering heights, the pointy toe rules. Heights call for sensual stiletto heels or stack ones in contrasting solids such as yellow, pink or royal blue and, for the more daring, in graphic patterns or leopard spots in combos of white/pink and brown/yellow.

Besides high-heeled pumps and ankle-strap d'Orsay versions, the pretty-to practical collection includes booties and rubber-soled creepers with slanted zippers that cut across the vamp for a tough-chic edge.

Counterpointing the sleek and sensual shapes is a renewed and fresh Seventies vibe that surfaces in more squared volumes like the wedge ankle boot in two-tone suede.

Besides autumnal favourites such as brown and black, the colour palette features pearl gray, white, fluo purple, yellow and pink alongside dusty blues and pinks.

Says Gerry Munday, Furla Global Travel Retail Director: “The Furla team is extremely pleased with the new collection for FW 15 and it will be a     pleasure to present in Singapore this year. There are some key pieces which will sell extremely well in travel retail, including the new Travel Retail     Exclusive Piper bag which has already been incredibly well received.

We saw sales grow in travel retail for 2013 v 2014 by 28% and now have 177 locations worldwide, along with a thriving business on some 17 airlines, in association with our inflight partner SKYlink.  It’s not just about increasing the number of locations, but also seeing sales grow with existing partners as the popularity of Furla continues to grow worldwide.”

Stoli® Appoints New Partner to Build China Sales

Stoli® GROUP has appointed Raylook Trading Limited as its exclusive Duty Free distributor for China, Macao and Hong Kong.

Raylook Trading Limited has been dedicated to the sales and distribution of premium liquors including French cognac and fine wine, since its founding in 1994.

In 2002, the company became the sole distributor of Louis Royer Cognac for duty free and domestic markets in China, Hong Kong and Macau.

“We believe that this new experienced partner will ensure Stolichnaya’s further growth in China where our sales grew by 22% last year in the domestic market,” says Stoli‘s Global Duty Free & Travel Retail Director Jean-Philippe Aucher.

As Chinese consumers become more aligned to Western lifestyles, so the opportunities for vodka will grow – particularly upscale, exclusive and innovative brands such as elit™ by Stolichnaya® and the elit™ pristine water series.

Earlier this year Stoli® sponsored the TFWA China’s Century Conference ‘coffee break’ with great success. “It was an excellent way to promote Stolichnaya® Premium Vodka to retailers and buyers not just from China but throughout the region and was extremely well received,” adds Aucher.

Bohemian trend grows and Hippie Chic soars

There seems to be no stopping the bohemian fashion trend and now a personal endorsement on YouTube of Tyko Travel Retail’s Hippie Chic ‘Boho” watch by blogger/presenter/celebrity Courtney Sixx is set to see sales rocket in the US.

Bazaar

 

Dusk

 

 

 

 

Pagan

This must-have item for a Bohemian-Chic Wardrobe, is described by Courtney as perfect for the summer festival scene. With YouTube views rising daily this spells great news for Tyko.

Hippie Chic is now listed on 98% of Tyko’s 300 listings for 2015 with new business on Ryan Air confirmed for spring/summer.

‘”The increased hype around bohemian fashion generally is really fantastic news for Hippie Chic sales – especially when we benefit from celebrity blogger endorsements,” says Tyko Director Global Travel Retail Martin Lovatt, “For 2015 numerous carriers have confirmed they will be increasing the bar fill to support the high levels of demand; in many cases Hippie Chic is the top seller inflight,” he adds.

Lovatt says that airline crew have given Tyko very positive feedback at recent engagement days. “We’ve had crew say to us things like ‘If only we could have a draw full of Hippie Chic – we always sell out on the outbound flight’ and ‘We cant believe the diversity of ages who buy Hippie Chic – we sell to young and old alike’.”

Quirky and feminine with a bohemian vibe, Hippie Chic watches come with a leather strap adorned with wooden beads and charms. With a vintage face and braided cord bracelets complimenting the “stacking” trend, Hippie Chic adds a boho feel and laid back style to any outfit.

For 2015 Hippie Chic has added three new styles: Bazaar, Pagan and Dusk, enabling lovers of these watch and bracelet sets to put together various new looks.

With Tyko now using an on-line media company in the US to continue partnering its brands with A & B list celebrities, the future for Hippie Chic looks bright. Continues Lovatt: “Between them, these stars represent 200+ of the top YouTube/Vine celebrities with an aggregate social media reach of over 250M and an average 8 Billion streaming views on their video loops.

“We’re continually being told of the importance of social media and this is a clear example of how it works. Through this means we are indirectly reaching out to millions of potential customers via Twitter, Facebook and Vine on a day/weekly basis. That is bound to have a great knock on effect for us in travel retail as well.”

Furla Selects Centric Software Product Lifecycle Management

Furla, the Italian fashion company of premium leather goods and accessories, has selected Centric Software to provide its product lifecycle management (PLM) software.

The company will use the Centric 8 PLM software for fashion, luxury, retail and consumer goods to help execute its international growth plan. Centric 8 will serve as a key component in Furla’s re-design of its product development and supply chain processes.

“The Centric PLM software will increase Furla’s efficiency by improving internal and external collaboration with the company’s manufacturing platform and suppliers. Deeper, more comprehensive collaboration among Furla’s style, merchandising and product development teams will assure that on-trend products reach their international markets on-time,” explains Eraldo Poletto, CEO of Furla.

“The opportunity to work with the Furla brand – a true expression of authentic Italian style – is an opportunity to make a real difference in the growth of this iconic company known for elegance and creativity,” says Chris Groves, president and CEO of Centric. “The Centric 8 PLM solution, designed especially for fashion, luxury, retail and consumer goods, will help Furla achieve its global goals.”

Furla (us.furla.com)
A company founded in 1927 in Bologna, Italy, Furla is one of the major players in the worldwide leather goods market, standing for its strictly made-in-Italy creativity. The company is present in 100 countries with 398 single-brand shops situated on the most prestigious international shopping streets, in a distribution network with more than 1,000 official points of sales, and in important growing channels such as travel, retail and e-commerce. Each product is produced in the spirit of excellence and high quality, with an exceptional value for the price, continuing the great tradition of Italian craftsmanship.

Centric Software, Inc. (http://www.centricsoftware.com)
Centric Software is a leading provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software for retail, apparel, footwear, luxury and consumer goods companies. The Centric 8 PLM suite delivers easy-to-use functionality to manage critical, inseparable business processes, including merchandising, product development, sourcing, business planning, quality management and collection management. Centric 8 implements and delivers value rapidly using an Agile Deployment(SM) methodology. Centric received the Frost & Sullivan 2012 Global Product Differentiation Excellence Award in Retail, Fashion and Apparel Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). Red Herring named Centric to its North America and Global Top 100 lists for 2013. WhichPLM recognized Centric as the overall PLM market leader for fashion in its 2012-2013 Annual Review.

Scorpio Worldwide launches new technical innovations into Travel Retail

Scorpio Worldwide is launching a wide arrange of new technical innovations at the upcoming TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference in Singapore (stand D9), including a number that – crucially – are exclusive to travel retail and inflight. These include the introduction of the globally popular Sony brand as well as new additions from ThumbsUp and Fitbug – the activity tracker that everyone is talking about.

The new range of Sony headphones include three travel retail exclusives:

* Over ear headphones with powerful, high-quality, balanced sound.

·      Over ear, noise cancelling headphones that offer 95% ambient noise reduction and excellent sound quality.

·      In-ear, high quality, stereo headphones, with less sound leakage structure. This set includes four sizes of earbuds and cord adjuster. 

All three headphones include a remote control in the headphone chord that allows hands-free phone calls when being used with Android, iPhone or Blackberry devices. All come with a travel case and airline adaptor and are priced from £27.00-£59.00

New lines from the innovative ThumbsUp brand include the revolutionary new Optimus smart phone virtual reality headset. Compatible with any smart phone, the user can enjoy movies, music videos, games and ‘fun experiences’ whilst immersed in a virtual reality world. Retailing at just £40.00, Scorpio believes this will be very popular with customers.

Another brilliant new idea is the Micro TV Arcade. The user simply connects it to their television and can then relive hours of video game nostalgia with a choice of 108 fun games. Retailing at around £18.00, Scorpio is excited at the level of fun teenagers and adults alike will have with this entertaining concept.

Also new to the ThumbsUp range are an iPhone 6 dual SIM case and an iPhone 6 power case and stand.

Last, but not least, Scorpio is introducing the Fitbug Orb Activity Tracker – everything you need to get you active and eat more healthily. The tracker comes accompanied with a body clip, two wrist straps and a 12 week personalised weight loss and toning app.

Scorpio Worldwide Sales and Marketing Director Richard Kennedy says: “We are thrilled to be launching these engaging and innovative products to travel retail. We predict these will be extremely popular with a wide demographic of consumers. The key to success inflight – and particularly in the electronic sector is to keep one step ahead of the rest with on trend, innovative and entertaining products at fantastic value prices. ”

Travel Blue takes the World to… just about everywhere

Travel Blue brings its TECH range of over 150 electrical/electronic/digital items including: Twist and Turn travel adaptors, USB adaptors, power banks, speakers, cables, earphones, Bluetooth headphones, USB car and wall chargers, lap top bags and more to this year’s TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition and Conference (stand G1). At this year’s event the company is highlighting a range of World To adaptors, which it believes are particularly suitable for Arrivals Shops.

The range includes World To…China/Australia; Israel, Switzerland, USA, South Africa, India and Europe. Unlike most global adaptors, the World To range is earthed and grounded for extra safety and suitable for use with most electrical travel items such as laptops, mobile phones, cameras etc. Says Director of Travel Retail Jonathan Smith: “These World To adaptors are perfect for Arrivals Outlets when passengers realise that their travel adaptor is not suitable for the country in question, or they want to buy an additional adaptor at a more reasonable price. Being earthed means they are very safe to use with earthed or non-earthed appliances by travellers from some 150 countries. The rear of the pack explains which countries the plug is suitable for where there are additions to that featured on the pack front..for example the China/Australia version can also be used in Argentina and New Zealand,” says Smith.

Travel Blue is a strong believer in colour being a driver of sales. In Singapore the company will be showing new colour versions of its Combination Strap, a hefty luggage strap incorporating a TSA approved combination lock, enabling US customs to check the contents without damaging the strap. For easy identification, the strap comes in a number of bright neon colours.

These lines join an extensive range of travel accessories within the TECH portfolio. Visitors to the stand in Singapore can see just how easy it is to offer TECH by Travel Blue via a range of attractive and space saving merchandising systems that range from a shop-in-shop to corner and wall bay systems to simple stand-alone spinners and gondolas.

Listed with 12 of the top leading 15 duty free retailers, Travel Blue offers the widest range of accessories to travellers, synonymous with “Travel in Comfort and Safety”. The Company has subsidiaries in key markets worldwide and is committed to offering fast-moving products supported by excellent customer service. It invented the unique FREE-LOST-FOUND service which gives the consumer the comfort of knowing that his/her valuables can be traced and found all over the world. This service is completely free of cost for partners and consumers, providing a real ADDED VALUE for travellers.

Hot bags this Spring

Purses come in a myriad of silhouettes, tones, and prints. This season’s must haves are an assortment of quality eye candy carryalls, timeless totes, and contemporary bag designs in dynamic shades and sizes. Search for the right bag that fits your style from Furla, Michael Kors, and LeSportsac’s spring collection.

The Furla spring/summer collection is inspired by the Neo Pop artistic movement. Painted and graphic effects in festive shades of sunshine, hibiscus orange as well as ocean blue and in contrast with soft tones of white, gray, and dove.

The Twist bag displays color-block impressions, a versatile and labor-intensive bucket-shaped shopper, complete with a metal bar and a woven inner compartment. For the chic trendsetter, the Furla Spy is perfect for day to night. This season’s novelty shape, the soft-edged, user-friendly backpack in soft nappa and suede, adorned with either mini or macro flat studs in burnished metal that set off a graphic polka dot effect.

The iconic Metropolis bag is chain-strapped and characterized by hand-stitched padded details that trace geometric motifs down the front. The clasp features a multi-color rubber coating.The same padded details also enhance the clean and casual class of the Alice tote.

The latest version of the Candy bag in soft PVC is a burst of playful colors and opposing textures. Another design of the same silhouette features resin brush-stroke effects that vary from subtle trickles to bold splotches, rigorously hand-applied to make each bag unique.

The Michael Kors spring collection showcases themes such as Safari Chic, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Haute Hawaii coupled with bags that mirror, fashion, form, and function. Natural woven raffia totes with leather straps and logo-etched hardware, the ideal carryall for casual weekend outings or tropical escapes.

There is beauty in the basics with the black luggage Izzy large bonded leather reversible tote, a chic and fundamental item that complements your daily wardrobe. It is designed from Venus leather with clean lines and polished top handles. The black tropical-print Eliza large plastic tote is a lightweight, spacious, top-handle, high quality bag for practical style and comfort.

LeSportsac features key items this spring in focused print and color stories. The Edie backpack, and the double zip belt bag in prints Tennis Stripe to Garden Mum, a heritage floral print updated in modern color.

 Classic travel styles including weekenders, packing cubes, crossbody bags and backpacks in prints such as Blissful, a soft imaging of flora in Spring color and Pink Pyramid, a geo played up in pretty pastel. The Every Girl and medium travel totes in Euphoria, a bouquet of flowers against a black ground and Blooming, a bold blending of animal print and graphic scribble.

The season’s solid picks also consist of metallics: Magnetic Snake, Gold Rush, and Wisteria Lightning–a lilac shimmer; debossings: Geodisic (black) and Solar (orange), as well as the Optic Patent (white) and Denim Pique, a textured washed denim photoreal.

Furla, Michael Kors, and LeSportsac are distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc. (SSI) - a member of the SSI Group. Furla and Michael Kors offered at Greenbelt 5, Rustan’s Makati, Central Square, Shangri-La Plaza Mall and Newport Mall. Michael Kors also available at The Power Plant Mall and Bonifacio High Street Central Square.LeSportsac offered at Estancia Mall, Robinsons Magnolia, Rustan’s in the following branches: Alabang, Cebu, Gateway, Robinsons Place Manila, Makati, and Shangri-La.