Save the Duck Opening First U.S. Store in SoHo
Save the Duck has landed in the U.S.
The Italian sustainable outerwear brand opens its first store in America Monday at 496 Broadway between Spring and Broome Streets in SoHo. It joins six other stores around the world — four in its home country as well as two in Asia — and is the first of many the brand plans to open over the next several years.
More from WWD
The New York City store will be the largest in the fleet at 1,500 square feet — the others are half that size — and will carry men’s, women’s and children’s outerwear as well as the lifestyle collections. The store’s assortment is centered around its outerwear made from Plumtech, a padding created from polyester fiber that mimics the fluffiness of down and is breathable, quick-drying and warm.
Although outerwear still represents the bulk of the brand’s business, it offers sportswear as well, as the company moves toward becoming a four-season lifestyle brand. Some 80 percent of the fall collection is outerwear and 20 percent is sportswear, a mix that changes to 50-50 in the warmer months.
Like its apparel offering, the store’s design showcases the company’s commitment to environmentally friendly materials. The track LED lighting is made from recycled plastic that was extruded at a high temperature from a bespoke mold and treated with nontoxic varnish, while display platforms and counters are finished with a layer of natural rubber.
Prices are also sharp when compared to the other outerwear specialists like Canada Goose and Moncler, with jackets starting at $195 and topping out at $795, more in line with a collection such as The North Face, whose products are more geared to the outdoors than the city streets.
“This has been a very important year for us, since we’re expanding in strategic new regions, as well as strengthening our presence in the markets where we’re already present,” said chief executive officer Nicolas Bargi. “I’m excited about the New York opening since it will be our first flagship in the USA, which is a key market for us. Our aim, in the medium-long term, is to accelerate our growth, reinforce the brand identity and its awareness globally. We also opened a 3,000-square-foot showroom overseeing Bryant Park last year. This will also showcase brand extensions as we launch them.”
Save the Duck opened a showroom on 40th Street last November to serve its wholesale clients and ready its retail push into the U.S. America currently represents about 25 percent of Save the Duck’s annual sales, which are expected to hit 65 million euros this year. It is the company’s largest export market along with Germany, Bargi said, and is growing in the double digits. Looking ahead, he expects the U.S. to perform better than the rest of the world as the customers here continue to embrace the brand’s sustainability message. It was this that prompted Bargi to make such a large investment in SoHo, he said. “SoHo went down for a while, but it’s coming back and I’m sure we will do well.”
Save the Duck sells at 250 retailers in the U.S., according to Loris Spadaccini, U.S. president, representing some 650 to 700 doors. Its biggest customers are Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s, but it also has a strong representation among independent specialty stores.
Although wholesale continues to represent the largest percentage of the company’s business, Spadaccini said Save the Duck’s own retail will be an important part of the business going forward. “We expect to have 50 stores globally within two to three years,” he said, “and 15 of them will be in the U.S.”
The brand traces its roots to 1914 when Foresto Bargi, Nicolas Bargi’s father, created the Forest Clothing Co. When that business fell on hard times, Nicolas Bargi relaunched the business as Save the Duck with a mission of sustainability and animal rights preservation. The company has the distinction of being the first Italian fashion company to obtain B Corp status, in July 2019.
Over the years, Nocolas Bargi brought on several outside investors who helped the company increase its sales and distribution among customers who embrace the brand’s message to save ducks from being killed for the creation of down jackets. In April, Reinold Geiger, executive director and chairman of Swiss beauty company L’Occitane Group, and André J. Hoffmann, its CEO, raised their stakes in the brand through their personal investment vehicles Société D’Investissements Cime S.A. and Anatra Investments Ltd. They now own 80 percent while Bargi owns the remainder.
