Expand in times of crisis. The start up de moda Zagv, created in 2015 in Barcelona, a store will open next April in London’s Soho. It is its first establishment outside of Spain and the spearhead for its growth after a very difficult year for the company due to the pandemic.
María Zaguirre and Silvia Viñas created Zagv in 2015. The women’s fashion company, with a selection of minimalist-inspired clothing and a hairpin between 20 and 200 euros, had a turnover of around 400,000 euros in 2019. In 2020, however, the pandemic sank billing by nearly 50%. Zaguirre heads the creative department and Viñas is the company’s executive director.
Despite the setbacks, the company will open its first store outside of Spain on April 12. The place will be the flagship of its recovery, after a disastrous 2020. “Last year our turnover sank almost 50%”, Viñas laments. The drop in tourism is behind the debacle. “We verified that the vast majority of foreign customers who visited our stores in Madrid and Barcelona came from the United Kingdom and we decided to open directly there”, explains the executive director to Modaes.es.
The new store in London’s Soho neighborhood will have about 250 square meters spread over two floors and will have four new workers who will join the fifteen that the company currently has. With this first opening outside of Spain, the starting point of its international strategy, the company plans to triple its turnover in 2021. Zagv estimates that 70% of its turnover this year will come from the British market.
Zagv will open its first store outside of Spain in London’s Soho: 250 square meters spread over two floors
“The national market is going through a difficult time, but it is also a generator of great opportunities to consolidate itself as a main axis of global manufacturing and which has great competitive advantages to produce quality at a good price,” says Zagirre. “We have enough capacity to compete in the international market, even against giants such as Asian manufacturers.”Adds the designer, who has been living in London since last November preparing the opening of the new premises.
The company opened its first store on Avinyó street in the center of Barcelona in 2016 and established its headquarters in the city, where it concentrates all its production. “We saw that there was a market niche to be exploited and we have known how to adapt,” he explains. They have a target very wide audience ranging from 30 to 60 years.
The pandemic in 2020 marked a turning point in a model that has been growing steadily since its launch in 2015. The opening of the Barcelona store was followed by one in Hortaleza street in Madrid in 2018. And from there , the international jump to the United Kingdom that was delayed by the pandemic. “Fortunately, the plans have remained intact and we are going to open despite the adverse circumstances,” says Viñas.
The company has opted for social networks and ecommerce to underpin its growth
Zagv currently has, in addition to its two physical stores in Spain and the upcoming opening at 82 Berwick Street in London, with two multi-brand points: one in Dubai and the other on Broadway (New York), which remains open despite the coronavirus crisis.
Ecommerce has been one of the company’s lifesavers. In 2020, sales through the digital platform grew by 50%. Furthermore, social networks have played an important role in promoting the firm and have become “part of the engine of the digital lever,” confirms Viñas.
The fashion company has opted for nanotechnology to boost business. “For the next winter collection we will rely on new technologies that we intend to integrate into our fabrics,” explains Silvia Viñas. To this end, the company plans to invest an undetermined amount in R&D.
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