DJPA print work leads to outlet

Dutch menswear retailer Gentiluomo is seeking a site in London’s Bond Street as one of three pilot stores to be launched in Europe next year, with interiors by DJPA Partnership.

Developing its own retail distribution chain is a key component of Gentiluomo’s strategy to reposition itself as a more upmarket player in the contemporary menswear market, says DJPA Partnership managing director Marc Ten Bruggen Cate.

The retailer is ‘aiming to compete against Armani, Prada and Versace’, he says, but is pitched at the ‘low price end of [that] segment’.

News that DJPA Partnership is working on standalone retail concepts for Gentiluomo comes as the consultancy unveils the Autumn/ Winter 2002-2003 brochure it has created for the brand.

This is the first public expression of the label’s repositioning, which the consultancy has been working on since September 2001, says Ten Bruggen Cate.

‘The whole image of the brand has been changed and updated. We have conceptualised the identity and all the communications tools,’ he adds.

The brochure will be distributed worldwide and its international character is reflected in the fact it contains no text, allowing the reader to concentrate on photographer Sean Macandrew’s imagery, Ten Bruggen Cate says.

‘The visual image is the key identifier for competing in this market,’ he says. ‘Everything we do needs to enhance the brand to fit that [category] position.’

In addition to work on the Gentiluomo marque, the consultancy has created all its point-of-sale and print advertising, as well as the interior of its Amsterdam showroom, which is targeted at wholesale fashion buyers.

DJPA Partnership is also in talks with the client about the design of its website.

The consultancy has worked with Gentiluomo since the brand’s inception seven years ago.