AGL Retools Pre-collections, Makes Further Push in China for Resort 2023
MILAN — Luxury footwear firm AGL is navigating harsh times with optimism, retooling its offer and focusing on expanded pre-collections, as well as making a further push in China.
“It’s a completely different scenario and we had to adjust across departments, valuing a horizontal approach to work to achieve a nimbler structure,” said Vera Giusti, the brand’s head of design and creative director, who helms the family-run company alongside her sisters Sara and Mari.
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As part of its post-pandemic retool, pre-collections were given more structure starting with pre-spring 2023, which boasts an expanded assortment that encompasses styles suiting different needs, from chunky-soled mules and toe-less leather boots exuding a summery vibe to metallic-accented sneakers and the introduction of untapped materials, including soft napa, PVC and satin.
“Having an expanded assortment answers the needs of different countries and it also responds to our clients’ demand for a more complete offering, especially in those markets where the brand is well established,” Giusti said in an interview at the brand’s recently revamped showroom in Milan. She noted how starting from pre-spring 2023, pre-collections will account for 40 percent of the season’s output.
Giusti described the collection as “wearable chic” catering to modern women’s needs for easy-to-wear footwear options, which have triggered the three siblings’ creativity.
Thomas Wiedenhofer/Courtesy of AGL
Based in the renowned footwear hub of Italy’s Marche region, whose shoe businesses have been impacted the most by the Russo-Ukrainian conflict given their significant exposure to the former country, AGL has been diverting its focus to other countries, especially the U.S. and China.
After opening a shop-in-shop unit at Beijing’s SKP mall in 2020 during the pandemic and despite stop-and-go closures in the region, Giusti said the brand has been widely appreciated in the Asian country. Given that, the footwear firm will land on Tmall in June and has recently opened accounts on Weibo, WeChat and Xiaohongshu.
At the same time, Giusti acknowledged that North America is doing particularly well, both Canada and the U.S.
The awareness of the brand Stateside has helped sustain momentum and achieve strong sell throughs at key accounts such as Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s, where AGL is carried at 40 and seven doors, respectively. In 2021, orders from these accounts registered a 110 percent uptick versus the previous year. Other stockists in the U.S. include Richards, Mitchells, Boyd’s and Stanley Korshak.
Courtesy of AGL
The company has recently embraced drop shipping in the U.S. with a dedicated warehouse in New Jersey, which is also servicing its e-commerce operations, viewed as an additional growth avenue in the country and globally. Overall, online sales account for 15 percent of the brand’s global turnover.
“The world is fluid and unpredictable, you need structure to face it,” Giusti said.
Russia represents the third most important market for AGL and the entrepreneur stressed the company’s commitment to back its clients, in light of the human and professional rapport. Boosted by strong sell-through rates in the country, Giusti doesn’t expect the market to disappear; on the contrary, she said summer orders have been delivered and seen strong demand there.
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