Count Luca Faloni is the latest Italian menswear brand to set its sights on North America.

Faloni, a Turin-born, Wharton Business School and London School of Economics entrepreneur, had no formal background in fashion, but had grown up surrounded by Italian artisans who created some of the world’s most luxurious — and highest-priced — apparel. While working as a consultant in San Francisco for Bain & Co. around 2012, he got a firsthand look at the pioneers of the direct-to-consumer trade such as Allbirds, Everlane and others, and a light went off. Why not create a brand centered around Italian craftsmanship and sell it directly to customers as a way to keep the prices affordable?

With that idea in his mind, Faloni returned to Italy and scoured the country to find experienced artisans as well as sources for the finest silk, cashmere, bushed cotton and linen fabrics. Once that was established, he launched the brand under his own name offering high-quality menswear staples such as button-down shirts, polos, knitwear, shorts and trousers.

Success followed and, in spring 2019, Luca Faloni opened its first store on Marylebone High Street in London, a city “where we had the most success online,” he said. That led to additional retail openings in New York’s SoHo, which debuted in September 2019, as well as other high-profile cities including Milan, Paris, Miami, Munich and Zurich. All told, the company operates 10 stores globally, and the plan is to add a second New York location in late summer, followed by the brand’s first Canadian boutique in early fall.

The New York store will be located at 406 West 14th Street in the Meatpacking District and will measure 3,500 square feet. It will feature interiors made from Canaletto walnut and Carrara marble with a sculptural ceiling installation created by Turin-based architects. It will include a pool table, a cinema nook where videos from the brand showcasing its artisans can be displayed, as well as a bar to encourage customers to relax and stay awhile.

“We picked Meatpacking because it’s trendy with all the nightlife and the restaurants,” he said. “Footfall is very important for us.”

The Canadian store will be located at 130 Bloor Street West in Toronto’s Yorkville neighborhood. The 2,800-square-foot unit will pay tribute to Canadian modernistic architecture with pendant lighting inspired by Toronto City Hall and the Ontario Science Centre. Inside, the store will feature Cipollino green marble and it will include an aperitivo bar.

Although Bloor Street tends to attract more luxury retailers and the company usually opts for what he described as “premium streets,” Faloni said he’s looking at this unit as a test to see how the company fares against higher-priced competitors.  

“We were online-only for five years, but the first store worked well, so we added others,” he said, adding that the business continues to be 70 percent online. “Opening two new boutiques in North America is a pivotal step in our growth journey,” Faloni said. “Our presence in the vibrant Meatpacking neighborhood — adjacent to SoHo House and Chelsea Market — and in Yorkville, Canada’s leading luxury corridor, allows us to build deeper relationships with discerning local and international clientele.”

These stores are larger than the ones the company opened earlier in its retail journey, when the units tended to be around 1,200 to 1,500 square feet. “These are bigger and feel more like homes,” he said.

Unlike other Italian brands such as Brunello Cucinelli, Zegna and Loro Piana, Luca Faloni focuses almost exclusively on what he defined as “elevated casualwear.” The suits and blazers that are offered are made from linen or lightweight wool or cashmere, depending on the season, and are merchandised in a more casual way.

Luca Faloni also breaks with industry tradition by its cadence. Rather than creating new collections two to four times a year, the brand offers a “permanent collection” of key items such as its linen Portofino shirt with its one-piece collar, which retails for $260, its Elba polo, retailing for $225, and its linen trousers, $360, that are available year-round.

“There are not a lot of novelty pieces,” he said. “We cover luxury staples that every man should own.”

And although the U.S. tariffs as well as the weakening dollar have caused the company to raise its prices twice in recent months, Faloni said it hasn’t cut into business. “We were very well priced before and we still are, even though we had to pass some costs along to customers,” he said. “But everyone is in the same position.”

Over the years Faloni said the U.S. has become the company’s most successful market and its store in SoHo “does extremely well,” prompting the expansion to another location in the city. In fact, he envisions New York one day housing five to six stores in different neighborhoods including Madison Avenue, a site on his wish list for the future. “Madison could be third,” he said.

Other cities on his radar include Los Angeles and San Francisco, but Faloni said he wanted to start his retail rollout on the East Coast. That’s the reason he chose Toronto for his first Canadian unit. Not only was it close to New York, but the city has a very large financial hub and many of its inhabitants shop in the SoHo unit.

“We always look at data to see how the brand will do [in a particular location,]” he said.

Down the road, Faloni, who said he has raised capital from high net worth investors to fund the expansion, believes his company can one day operate some 200 to 300 stores globally. “But it will take a few decades,” he said. “For now, we’re looking to open four to five stores a year.”