Brand Sisters takes a stake in Vanessa Bruno

By

Olivier Guyot

Published
May 16, 2023

Vanessa Bruno is celebrating Mexico City this May, by turning its store in Paris' 6th arrondissement into a Latino concept store. The premium women's ready-to-wear brand, launched in 1996 by its eponymous founder, is also preparing to open new points of sale and expand into new markets, including Shanghai this summer.

The expansion is in line with the growth dynamic of the Parisian label, which claims to have recorded a growth of around 30% in 2022, compared to 2021, without however disclosing its turnover. An ambitious roadmap that is perhaps linked to the arrival of a new shareholder. FashionNetwork.com has learned that Brand Sisters, a company headed by Arié Benayoun, who already owns Zapa and Tara Jarmon, has taken a stake in the premium label.

"Brand Sisters took a minority stake in the Vanessa Bruno Group last December. Beyond the financial contribution, there are industrial convergences, particularly with regard to their experience in retail," explains Henri Sebaoun, the brand's managing director, who does not detail the financial arrangement and the amount contributed by this new partner. With Tara Jarmon and Zapa, Brand Sisters had 180 points of sale. With the three brands, the company now has almost 250 outlets. However, the three brands are not intended to be combined in a single concept, says Henri Sebaoun, who emphasises that "the Vanessa Bruno group's shareholding is now made up of Brand Sisters, Vanessa Bruno, which has a majority stake, and myself." The former Carven executive joined and invested in the French brand in 2019, when he became general manager.

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It was then that he boosted the development of the brand's store network. Although slowed down by Covid, this is still an on-going project. Vanessa now has some 300 retailers worldwide and more than sixty points of sale under the brand name in France, between corners in department stores and boutiques. It is beginning its international development with a partner, opening a store in the heart of San Sebastian in Spain at number 15 Calle Arrasate and plans to open other stores in the coming months in the Iberian Peninsula. "We also have openings, again with affiliates, planned in Switzerland in Lausanne and Zurich in the coming months," explains Vanessa Bruno. "But we will also have our first pop-up store in Shanghai at the end of June, before opening a boutique on Nanjing Road, in the former French concession. It's a very interesting project and I really want to see how it will work out... and I hope that it works."

According to a recent ranking by Henley&Partners with the New World Wealth institute, evaluating the world's cities with the most millionaires, Shanghai ranks ninth overall, with over 127,000 millionaires. With a Chinese clientele that seems to be gradually returning to its consumer habits, the French brand could do well in the city.