MILAN — Levi’s has opened its biggest store in Italy, a testament to its lifestyle ambitions and direct-to-consumer-first strategy.
Located in the central shopping avenue of Corso Vittorio Emanuele, the 3,810-square-foot store spans two levels and is the brand’s 12th unit in the city. But the new location is meant to be Levi’s prime retail hub in Milan in terms of offering and activations, said Lucia Marcuzzo, senior vice president and managing director for Europe at the brand’s parent company Levi Strauss & Co.
In an interview with WWD, Marcuzzo underscored the important role of the Italian market — where Levi’s has more than 70 stand-alone stores and is available at more than 1,000 wholesale doors — and how the new unit is strategic for the brand.
Inside the new store Levi’s opened in Milan.
Courtesy of Levi’s
“Levi’s is at the center of culture, it’s very active in contributing to the [zeitgeist] through collaborations with artists, as well as engaging with the people who love us,” said Marcuzzo. “And speaking about culture and cities that have something to say, we can’t miss to be in Milan with such a direct presence.… This store is the crowning of this [presence] and marks an opportunity also to engage our fans with activities.”
The store’s soft opening this week will be followed by an official opening marked by an exclusive event and DJ set on Dec. 4 and, on a longer term, by a schedule of implementations timed to key cultural and social moments in town, such as Milan Design Week.
Mainly hinged on wood and metal elements, the interior concept of the store also features bespoke details subtly nodding to Milan, like the wooden panels marking the undulated ceiling and winking to the Duomo cathedral’s pinnacles. Elsewhere, a straightforward approach is favored with the furniture giving the vast product assortment a chance to shine.
Inside the new store Levi’s opened in Milan.
Courtesy of Levi’s
To this end, special attention was put into the merchandising process and into facilitating the shopping behaviors between female and male customers.
Marcuzzo highlighted how the ground floor is dedicated to women — customers “who are so important here not only in terms of market share but also because they tend to drive the fashion-forward or family purchases.” The floor is set up to frequently change its offering, enabling a sense of discovery, enhancing new drops and suggesting styling tips through visual merchandising. The basement floor targeting male customers comes with a heightened attention to service, instead, to ensure guidance and consulting opportunities throughout the shopping experience.
Inside the new store Levi’s opened in Milan.
Courtesy of Levi’s
Yet Marcuzzo noted how the Levi’s consumer often buys pieces across genders and categories. The goal here is to flank the brand’s go-to product families — like the iconic 501 line — with the latest collaborations and its more premium proposition, ultimately expressing how Levi’s is pivoting into a full-fledged lifestyle brand.
“The idea is to have customers discover something they didn’t expect from Levi’s, so to dress them head-to-toe for different occasions.…This will also be the place to find some of our gems, like the collaboration with Barbour we launched last month,” said Marcuzzo.
A look from the collaboration between Levi’s and Barbour.
Courtesy of Levi’s
In addition to the label’s bestsellers, other styles recently gaining heat in the market include loose fits, such as the baggy barrel designs, as well as separates playing on the Western trend, from shirts to shorts.
“Italy is a fashion-forward market, here novelties are accepted more rapidly compared to other countries,” said Marcuzzo. “And there’s a good balance between the women’s and men’s categories, while traditionally we tend to be stronger in menswear elsewhere. So it’s a market that is ahead in that sense versus the worldwide average.…Plus, we see that here consumers respond well when we go on a higher positioning, like when we launched our more premium denim line Blue Tab, which resonated successfully here.”
Looks from the Blue Tab collection by Levi’s.
Courtesy of Levi’s
The executive also highlighted how the physical shopping experience is still paramount for the local consumer. She noted how digitalization was not Italy’s before the pandemic, COVID-19 accelerated the process and propelled online sales. Yet e-commerce has not overtaken the role of brick-and-mortar stores, but facilitated an omnichannel approach to shopping.
“Everything that is click-and-collect or like order-online-return-in-store works here. There’s really this symbiosis between digital and physical that is significant. So this remain a very interesting market for our retail plans,” said Marcuzzo.
The Holiday 2025 campaign by Levi’s.
Courtesy of Levi’s
Without disclosing figures, she said the market has doubled in the past six years, becoming one of the fastest-growing areas for the brand. “Opening our stores here enabled us to have a direct dialogue with consumers, narrating who we are and what’s our story in a coherent way, with our words, visuals and products. But also to receive back a lot from them, creating fidelity and a loyal bond that is very important to have, especially in this moment,” said Marcuzzo. “Hence we increased also our investments and will continue to do so. We want to be even more present in Italy, both in cities and in shopping malls,” said Marcuzzo, revealing that a new store will bow in Genoa this month, too.
This approach fits with the DTC-first strategy the company has been increasingly embracing and that led Levi’s to open 700 doors in Europe, including 650 stores and 50 units in concession or shop-in-shop format.
A look from the Baggy Season collection by Levi’s.
Courtesy of Levi’s
“Yet we’re not aiming to become DTC-only,” said Marcuzzo, underscoring that she sees the wholesale channel as a complement to the strategy.
“Stand-alone stores are important, but half of consumers still go shopping at multibrand retailers,” she said. “The key is to think about each store and what kind of audience it is targeting. It’s not a competition but a completion. Ultimately, we are the ones who have to follow consumers where they like to shop, rather than asking them to change their habits.”
A look from the Blue Tab collection by Levi’s.
Courtesy of Levi’s
Marcuzzo has piled up more than two decades of experience in retail. After starting her career in 1998 at Italian department store Gruppo Coin, she served as worldwide head of retail at Diesel for more than 10 years, managing its directly operated retail network.
She joined Levi Strauss & Co. in 2010 as vice president retail Europe, again managing the firm’s directly operated stores, as well as its franchise network and e-commerce. In March 2016, she was appointed vice president Central Cluster, driving impactful results across the Germany and Benelux. Her regional scope then expanded to include the U.K. and Nordics in 2020, and she was named senior vice president and managing director for North Europe the following year, with added responsibility for Eastern Europe. Marcuzzo was promoted to her current role last year.
Lucia Marcuzzo, senior vice president and managing director, Europe, Levi Strauss & Co.
Jack Taylor/Courtesy of Levi’s
In addition to Levi’s, Levi Strauss & Co. also owns Beyond Yoga. The group’s products are sold in more than 120 countries worldwide through a combination of chain retailers, department stores, online sites, and a global footprint of roughly 3,400 stores and shops-in-shop. The company logged $6.4 billion in revenues last year.
