About

LuisaViaRoma: multi-brand luxury fashion. LuisaViaRoma is one of the leading international specialist in digital luxury offering worldwide shipping.

LUISAVIAROMA (also known as Luisa Via Roma or LVR) is a retailer of the luxury market founded in 1929 by Andrea Panconesi with the opening of the eponymous concept store in Via Roma in Florence. Online since 1999, today the company invoices over 90% from its online sales. Andrea Panconesi holds the title of President and Founder, while his daughter Annagreta Panconesi is the Creative Director of both the website and store.

In 2021 Style Capital, a private equity fund specializing in fashion and lifestyle brands represented by Roberta Benaglia, invested €130 million in the company. The strategic partnership aims to accelerate the growth of the luxury e-tailer in its main markets and to support its plans for international expansion. Leading the ambitious project is the new CEO Alessandra Rossi, a top manager with over 20 years of experience in the fashion e-commerce sector.

At the end of July 2023, LuisaViaRoma announced Tommaso Maria Andorlini as the new CEO. This appointment aligns with LuisaViaRoma’s long-term vision and growth strategy. By joining forces with the Florentine manager and entrepreneur, the company aims to affirm its position as a leader in the fashion/luxury market and utilize influential synergies to benefit both customers and partners.

LuisaViaRoma is known all over the world for its curated selection of over 600 luxury brands, including both iconic brands and emerging talents. With collections of clothing and accessories for men, women and kids, designer home items and beauty products, the company is a leader in the new fashion landscape. Some of the best-known brands from the selection include Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Balmain, Bottega Veneta, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, JACQUEMUS, Loro Piana, MACH & MACH, Manolo Blahnik, Max Mara, Moncler, Off-White, Saint Laurent, Tom Ford, Valentino and Versace.

Currently approximately 300 people from 20 countries work on the website, now available in 10 languages: English, Italian, German, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, French, Korean, Japanese and Turkish. The website LUISAVIAROMA is created entirely in-house at the company’s headquarters in Florence, Italy where the graphics, design, IT, customer service, marketing and buying departments are located. PR and press offices operate from the company’s Milan office.

Orders are shipped all over the world from LuisaViaRoma warehouses in packages prepared with the utmost care, using branded tape and boxes. Demonstrating an increasingly conscious approach, in 2019 the company implemented packaging with the FSC® certification, the most rigorous and authoritative certification of those currently available, to ensure maximum recyclability.

With the goal of being part of a change towards more sustainable fashion and having the ability to offer customers conscious options, LuisaViaRoma features an area entirely dedicated to sustainability. Introduced in 2019, LVRSustainable is a section that offers a curated selection of sustainable items and brands, promoting special collaborations with non-profit entities, organizations and brands to benefit social and environmental causes.

Numerous high-profile partnerships have been formed over the years, aimed at supporting charitable work and projects with a focus on social and environmental causes. Among the most significant collaborations are those with UNICEF Italia, Oxfam Italia and Extreme E, which are partly made possible through the charity gala LuisaViaRoma x UNICEF, the awareness campaign Give Water, Sustain Women and the photojournalistic documentation project My Earth is Beating.

LuisaViaRoma offers a series of initiatives and exclusive services both online and offline such as the possibility of purchasing the latest collections of new seasons in pre-order; Private Sale, a dedicated selection reserved for top clients; Sneakers Club, an area devoted to the sale of the most-sought-after sneakers and limited editions; LVR Privilege, the loyalty program that allows clients to earn points and convert them into benefits, discounts and luxury experiences and LVR Magazine, an editorial platform created to give readers a personalized way to discover the latest trends, and a place where they can purchase both products from LuisaViaRoma and other products not present on the website thanks to a dedicated team of personal shoppers.

The website LUISAVIAROMA closed 2021 with 53 million unique visitors (a 39% increase compared to 2020) and with revenues of €268 million generated by the e-commerce (a 15% increase compared to 2020). In mid-2022, Italy generated 23% of online sales, followed by the United States (14.9%), Great Britain (11.7%), Germany (9.9%) and France (5.6%).

History

Late 1800s – French hat designer Luisa Jaquin opens a straw hat boutique in Paris.

1929 – Her daughter Olga marries Lido Panconesi and together they open the LUISA boutique in Florence.

1968 – Andrea Panconesi, Luisa’s grandson, starts working as a buyer with brands such as Balenciaga, Balmain, Givenchy, and Saint Laurent. In Paris he discovers KENZO and LuisaViaRoma becomes the first store in Europe to sell the Japanese designer’s collection.

1980s – Andrea Panconesi creates Westuff, a magazine combining art, fashion and music. The exclusive editorial staff is composed of Stefano Tonchi, head of fashion, Maria Luisa Frisa, head of art, and Bruno Casini, head of music.

1980s – The artist Kyle Bradfield designs a digital shop window in Via Roma. His creative genius, aesthetic sense and skills are what make the LuisaViaRoma shop window one of the most famous in the world, marking a turning point in the visual arts sector in Italy.

1980s – Andrea Panconesi pioneers buying in Italy. With an avant-garde approach, he is the first to photograph the items purchased in the showroom to then present them in preview to customers in the store.

1999 – The company creates LUISAVIAROMA.COM, giving international customers the opportunity to shop online, and starts a general restyling of the LuisaViaRoma flagship store that helps it become one of the most iconic stores in Italy.

2010 – To celebrate the first 10 years of e-commerce activity, LuisaViaRoma launches FIRENZE4EVER … It’s Magic!, a seasonal event during which emerging fashion talents and famous fashion bloggers are invited to create multi-brand looks over the course of a three-day Style Lab. Featured are a themed event to open Pitti Uomo and Fashion Week, with in-store installations, dinner parties and live performances by international artists in some of the most vibrant locations in the Tuscan capital. It is thanks to this first edition of the event that Chiara Ferragni takes her first steps as an influencer.

2011-2017 – The increase in sales in new markets and investments on a technological level are the basis of the digital evolution of the platform. The company develops a series of commercial and high-tech implementations to offer a tailored online experience to customers around the world. By the end of 2017, shipping to over 150 countries has already begun and e-commerce is available in 10 languages, entirely designed and produced in-house by the various teams: information technology, creative, content, marketing, buying, customer service, and more.

2018 – Social commitment is at the heart of LuisaViaRoma’s philosophy. The company collaborates with UNICEF Italia for the first international UNICEF Summer Gala and with the Naked Heart Foundation to help children with special needs. After partaking in these two collaborations, other important partnerships follow with Oxfam Italia and Extreme E, the off-road race with electric SUVs that allow LuisaViaRoma to participate more actively in the debate on environmental issues.

2018 – 2022 – Numerous collaborations flourish with brands, multifaceted artists, architects and designers who give life to thematic installations, designed to make the shop in Via Roma an evocative live stage. Among the installations that have graced the store with the latest fashions are Marble Iceberg, on the theme of climate change; Home For the Holidays, the transformation of the shop to celebrate the holidays; Eden, the reinterpretation of the interiors dedicated to the launch of the exclusive capsule of The Attico; Marni Moon Market, the pop-up on the store terrace; Aerial Underwater World, the project to evoke the zeitgeist of these years; Cassina in Terrazza, the event for the launch of the brand’s exclusive capsule and the takeover by Jil Sander during Pitti Uomo 2022. 2019 – LuisaViaRoma presents LVRSustainable, a section offering a careful selection of sustainable items and brands, promoting special collaborations with non-profit entities, organizations and brands to benefit social and environmental causes. With the aim of creating a community attentive to the theme of sustainability, LVRSustainable promotes conscious fashion based upon the following values: organic, vegan, ethical trade, eco-friendly, women’s empowerment, community engagement, recycling & upcycling and luxury craftsmanship.

2019 – On June 13th, LuisaViaRoma celebrates its 90th anniversary with CR Runway, a memorable event held in Piazzale Michelangelo organized with Carine Roitfeld. Some of the most iconic models of all time including Irina Shayk, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Karolina Kurkova, Stella Maxwell, Vittoria Ceretti, Mariacarla Boscono, Alessandra Ambrosio, Doutzen Kroes and Natasha Poly feature on the catwalk. A live performance by Lenny Kravitz and an exclusive after-party are held to close the evening.

2020 – Despite the pandemic, the company continues to grow. Hiring new talents from all over the world, developing new e-commerce features, redefining and expanding the selection of brands from a sustainable perspective and implementing the site in Turkish. Before the health emergency, the online platform generated 98% of sales (equal to €146 million) in 2019. In 2020, revenues increased by 30%, reaching €190 million.

2021 – The company announces a strategic partnership with Style Capital. The private equity fund based in Milan invests €130 million to fuel the international growth of LuisaViaRoma. Andrea Panconesi retains the majority of the company’s share capital, while Style Capital, represented by their CEO Roberta Benaglia, holds important governance rights, with the aim of listing LuisaViaRoma on the stock exchange in the coming years. The role of CEO is held by Alessandra Rossi, a long-time top manager in the luxury segment. This partnership fosters the development of LuisaViaRoma, the synergy aims to consolidate the company’s digital skills, building on its strong Italian DNA and its wealth of knowledge gained over the first 90 years of business.

2022 – The company focuses on the American market with a series of initiatives aimed at increasing the revenue generated by overseas sales. After the first half of the year, the US is the second most important market, accounting for 14.85% of sales.

2023 – At the end of July, LuisaViaRoma announces Tommaso Maria Andorlini as the new CEO. This appointment aligns with LuisaViaRoma’s long-term vision and growth strategy. By joining forces with the Florentine manager and entrepreneur, the company aims to affirm its position as a leader in the fashion/luxury market and utilize influential synergies to benefit both customers and partners.

LUISAVIAROMA believes that customers are not simply looking for products, but an experience. For this reason, the company continues to be a leader in the world of fashion and luxury. Today LUISAVIAROMA offers clothing, bags, shoes, and accessories for women, men and kids by brands such as Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Balmain, Bottega Veneta, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Jacquemus, Loro Piana, Mach & Mach, Manolo Blahnik, Max Mara, Moncler, Off-White, Saint Laurent, Tom Ford, Valentino and Versace, as well as sections dedicated to home and beauty.