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Stroili Italian Jewels’ print ad campaign, fronted by top model Isabeli Fontana |
SKYlink GmbH is the name of a new boutique distributor dedicated to bringing premium, mid-market brands to the inflight and duty free sectors. But not just any brands.
Co-founded by Managing Directors Thomas Wesch and Barry Fitzpatrick, the Hamburg-based company is seeking fresh, creative brands with a distinctive design DNA, in line with its marketing motto “Creative Travel Retail”.
Creative-travel-retail.com is also the name of the new venture’s soon-to-be-launched website.
SKYlink has already scored early successes since its formation earlier this year. Furla was the first big-name fashion firm to sign up as a client, as the Italian premium accessories brand continues its quest to put its stylish stamp on the world of travel retail. Indeed, SKYlink has already achieved major inflight listings for Furla accessories onboard Qantas, KLM and ANA.
Escorting The Moodie Report round the company’s temporary showroom in Singapore last month, Fitzpatrick – a former executive at Hanse Distribution and Rotary Watches – explained the new company’s approach.
“We represent premium, mid-market, accessible brands in the international duty free market. We decided to create the company after looking at what’s currently available – we think the world has changed, people have moved on. We are being very selective about the brands we take on. We have a real passion for our brands and we have to work out what fits where. We want to keep it personal and work with companies with the same ethos and service as we aim to provide.”
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Retro design: German-made Zeppelin watches |
One such brand is Stroili Italian Jewels, a family-owned Italian brand with powerhouse shareholders including L Capital (an LVMH Group-owned investment firm) and 21 Investimenti. As well as being a jewellery brand, Stroili is Italy’s leading jewellery and watch retail chain carrying well-established fashion brands such as Breil, Michael Kors, Festina, Fossil and Guess.
“Stroili is a fantastic jewellery brand. It’s slightly more expensive than Pandora and Swarovski and is targeted at the 20-45 age group, with a core retail price of €150. We think it will be great for gifting,” said Fitzpatrick, reeling off the names of airlines that have already listed the brand – Emirates, Etihad, Qantas and KLM, where a cuff and ring set is the best-seller in its jewellery section.
“We are also in discussions with Dufry and Gebr Heinemann about the brand,” Fitzpatrick added. “We think that travel retail attracts the right sort of customers to develop the domestic market for Stroili, and this ensures buy-in from the brand owner.”
With the firepower of private equity behind it, Stroili seems destined for great things. Some 100 watch and jewellery shops are to begin trading in China in the next 12 months, and it has opened its own stores in Moscow. The brand’s appealing print ad campaign, fronted by top model Isabeli Fontana, appears in influential international fashion magazines.
Another potentially high-flying brand in the stable is Philip Stein, the well-being jewellery and watch brand.
“The Sleep Bracelet is one of the highest-grossing products onboard some of our airlines at present,” noted Fitzpatrick. “The brand is about to enter an exciting phase and we are proud to be involved in the next stage of its life. Will, his wife Rina and Rina’s daughter Ruthie, are a joy to work with,’ enthused Fitzpatrick.
With an inflight retail price of €235 for the Sleep Bracelet, more innovations are to be announced in the coming months.
Watch brands offered by SKYlink include Zeppelin, a German-made retro timepiece collection with a heritage linked to flying. Fitzpatrick believes that the iconic images will resonate with the travelling public. Like the other brands in the portfolio, the Munich-based firm is a family business. He said that he is “cherry-picking” the airline clients that will showcase the brand, with Air China, China Eastern and Hainan Airlines chosen as the brand’s launch carriers. The core range retails at €300.
Wesch added: “In the next few weeks, we will be announcing a number of new brand partnerships – brands which are serious about developing a duty free business and that add value to our customers’ brand portfolios. It’s all terribly exciting.”
