Ecoalf opens its first flagship store in Milan

By

Triana Alonso

Translated by
Roberta HERRERA

Published
Feb 15, 2023

Just a few days after opening its Madrid shop in Caleido, the Spanish sustainable company has landed in the centre of Milan with a boutique located in Piazza Gae Aulenti.

The 80-square-metre, one-storey shop retails the Spanish brand's latest collections, including its range of clothing, footwear and accessories. The firm teamed up with design specialist Studio Urquiola to design the luminous white-toned space with contrasting organic textures.

Using recycled materials, eco-design, circularity and limiting the project's impact on the environment, the boutique features flooring and furniture coverings manufactured by Italy's Cimento, which specialises in using a carbon-neutral cement that is 90% recycled from production waste. The store's side panels were made by Kvadrat, using textiles that have reached the end of their lifespan, while the walls were painted with eco-friendly paint and curtains were produced from recycled plastic using 3D technology.

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The shop also pays tribute to the fishermen it collaborates with in cleaning up the Mediterranean Sea by displaying 10 portraits of members of the Ecoalf Foundation's "Upcycling the Oceans" project, launched in 2015 with the aim of cleaning up the oceans and converting plastic from marine litter into yarn for textile development. By 2025, the Spanish firm's goal is to work with more than 10,000 fishermen in the Mediterranean Sea. To date, it is already working with fishermen in Spain, France, Italy and Croatia.

Furthermore, the new carbon-neutral Italian shop represents a step towards Ecoalf's goal of achieving zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The Spanish company has been B Corp certified since 2018.

"Italy is one of our largest markets and, as part of our international expansion, we wanted to open a shop in Milan," said Javier Goyeneche, founder and president of the brand born in 2009, at the inauguration of the store. 

The Spanish brand, which has a retail network of 1,500 points of sale, closed its 2021 financial year with a turnover of 39 million euros. Ecoalf expects to increase its sales volume by 50% in the near future.