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NEW YORK, United States — Cult accessories label Mansur Gavriel is expanding its physical retail footprint with a holiday pop-up store on Madison Avenue, which opened Thursday.
This marks the second brick-and-mortar location for the New York-based label, whose decidedly minimalist designs have attracted a global following over the past five years. The 3,000 square-foot space, located in Midtown Manhattan near the Upper East Side and close to famous department store Bloomingdale's, is outfitted in the brand's signature pink colour palette and stocks its newly launched ready-to-wear collection as well as its already-well-known shoes and accessories. The pop-up also houses a florist, where shoppers can purchase customised arrangements.
“Madison is such an iconic location,” says brand president Shira Sue Carmi, who joined the company in July 2017. “Targeting that uptown customer and the tourist customer that’s there...the kind of exposure that you get is unparalleled.”
Mansur Gavriel's first store, located on Wooster Street in Soho, originally launched as a pop-up in the autumn of 2016. Today, it's a flagship that served as the stage for its first-ever runway show at New York Fashion Week in September.
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“Retail has been extremely successful for us and we have been looking for opportunities to extend it,” Carmi says. “The pop-up format has [also] been really successful for us, so that’s definitely something we would like to replicate.”
The tactic speaks to a wider retail-expansion trend, where brands — from direct-to-consumer luggage label Away to blogger-turned-business mogul Chiara Ferragni's fashion label — use pop-ups to test the physical waters before segueing into permanent boutiques.
Founded in 2012, Mansur Garviel quickly amassed a following thanks to hit designs including its signature bucket bag and mid-heel mules. While wholesale is still a major driver of business for the line, direct sales are increasingly important. “[It’s] a big part of our strategy,” Carmi says. “Our [Soho] store is doing phenomenally well and we really want to extend that side of the business.”
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