Zill Boutique opens in NYC.
Several years ago Alain Schimel, owner of the French brand Zilli, said he was focusing more design attention on shirts, ties, and leather accessories because such items are a natural stepping stone into the American man’s wardrobe. “Once a gentleman gets a taste of Zilli’s attention to detail on its men’s furnishings we have a much better shot at getting him to try on one of our jackets,” says Schimel, who revolutionized men’s outerwear in the 1970s by rendering it out of exotic materials such as crocodile and ostrich. Now Zilli is after an even bigger share of the American menswear market with the opening in September of its first U.S. store. Located inside the Four Seasons Hotel in New York but accessible from the sidewalk on East 57th Street, the 2,500-square-foot shop will be outfitted in tones of beige and mahogany, like Zilli’s other 36 signature stores and shop-within-shops around the world, but this store will have a character and collections all its own. “We will be concentrating on sport chic and less suits because we don’t want to compete with Brioni,” located just across the lobby, says daughter Alexandra Schimel, the family-owned company’s corporate retail director. – From Robb Report