Pant Maker PT Torino Expands Beyond Trousers
MILAN — Mindful of the competitive market, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 disarray, Turin-based pant maker PT Torino is gearing up to expand beyond just trousers and provide its customers with a full men’s ready-to-wear offering.
One and half years in the making, the brand extension project conceived pre-pandemic was accelerated, rather than halted, by the health emergency and is poised to provide the company with competitive advantage.
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“The full-look collection will help us better convey the message behind our pants,” said Domenico Gianfrate, the brand’s creative director, while reiterating the company’s commitment to its core product category. “We were triggered by our retailers, which started to market our pants in a more contemporary, modern way,” he said.
The brand’s parent company Cover50 SpA, which is listed on the Milan Bourse, reported revenues of 21.2 million euros in 2020, down from 29 million euros a year earlier and Gianfrate offered that the new 400-plus items in the collection are expected to lift revenues by 20 to 25 percent each season.
Debuting with the spring 2022 collection that is being unveiled with a physical presentation as part of Milan Fashion Week on June 19, the lineup includes knitwear, jerseys, shirts as well as outerwear, with the same attention to details and Made in Italy quality the pant maker is known for.
“Our goal is to reinterpret the classic wardrobe taking into account modern men’s needs, such as comfort and a new kind of elegance that has little to do with a formal suit and tie,” Gianfrate explained. The collection includes camp shirts with floral prints, a laser-cut trenchcoat pairing wool with jersey, as well as leather bomber jackets thrown over Bermuda shorts in a nocturnal floral pattern.
The full rtw offering will be distributed through the company’s wholesale network but PT Torino, which has undergone a brand repositioning in 2019, as reported, will aim to first serve retailers in the premium segment, further strengthening its appeal as an affordable luxury brand.
“We expect end consumers and retailers alike to perceive us as a younger, more fashion-oriented brand,” Gianfrate said. This, along with the expanded offering, is pivotal in engaging the Chinese market, one that the company has yet to enter, he added.
The company’s key markets include Italy and Japan, as well as Northern Europe and the U.S. Overall the brand is distributed in around 1,000 multibrand stores.
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