Made in Italy: Fabiana Filippi looks beyond millennials on Hong Kong debut
Umbrian fashion brand chief Mario Filippi Coccetta talks Asian consumers, competition, work and play
You don’t often hear a fashion brand CEO state that the brand does not target millennials. The demographic is part and parcel of most brand strategies and corporate speak, and it’s refreshing to see that a brand is staying true to its vision.
I’m interviewing Mario Filippi Coccetta, president and CEO of Fabiana Filippi, a brand from the Umbria region of Italy that is known for its cashmere and silk. Just last year, Fabiana Filippi was embroiled in a court case with Brunello Cucinelli, another Umbrian brand whose cashmere creations are highly regarded, involving “unfair competition and counterfeiting of unregistered community models”. Both claims – the original and counter claim – were rejected by the courts, but now Fabiana Filippi is proudly in Hong Kong and ready to play.
Read on for Filippi Coccetta’s take on Asian consumers, the millennial demographic, what it’s like to have familiar competition in town – and what possessions he would save from a fire.
On work:
Why have you set up your first store in Hong Kong now, and what prompted the expansion?
We decided to open a store in Hong Kong because we see it as the international city par excellence and, we believe, an excellent market for Fabiana Filippi, a company with an international outlook. We feel that the time has come for our brand to expand in Hong Kong and China.
Hongkongers appreciate quality, Italian-made clothing. What are your feelings about the quality, ‘Made in Italy’ products of your competitors which are also available in Hong Kong?