Patrizia Pepe considers eyewear and perfumes

After launching its line of menswear last April, Patrizia Pepe, the Florence company owned by the Tessilform group, is working on launching accessories for men with the spring-summer 2006 collection.

Management is also evaluating the possibility of 'licensing certain product categories', company president Claudio Orrea told Finanza & Mercati. 'I'm talking about eyewear and perfumes, for example', he explained. Every year, Patrizia Pepe presents one or two eyewear models made in-house, but for a real collection it must rely on 'licensees with specific know-how'.

In the meantime, just the other day the company opened its first monobrand store in Istanbul ('it's the first step toward our success on the Turkish market', Orrea said) and three new stores are planned for Nagoya, Tokyo and Kanazawa in Japan.

Tessilform closed 2004 with 69 million euros, an upturn of 30% compared to the previous year, and gross operating income of 14.6%. For 2005, the company's turnover should reach 81 million euros.

(Source: Finanza & Mercati)