Although luxury stores around the world are batting with the global economic crisis, Czech fashion lovers need not despair. On the contrary, As of last Tuesday, there is another reason to visit Pařížská street. The department store Simple officially opened last Tuesday on Prague”s “boulevard of luxury”. Shoppers will find two floors of high-end fashion and collections that have been thus far unavailable in the Czech Republic.
An influx of new brands
For the first time, Czechs will be able to buy brands such as Givenchy, Lanvin, Balenciaga and British designers such as Alexander McQueen, John Galliano and the increasingly popular British company Chloé.
Simple does not focus just on fashion. Besides the main collections of various fashion houses, there is also quality design, books about history, art and design, foreign fashion magazines, as well as music and cosmetics.
The company Carollinum, which owns the Simple Concept Stores, is not afraid of the impact of the crisis. “We are trying to ignore the crisis. If everyone is afraid of the crisis, it will really come. That’s why we are now opening new stores,” said Tamara Kotvaldová-Bendlová, the owner of the company, on Tuesday at the official opening ceremony. She says interest in luxury brands in Prague is still high. “The fashion we sell here, that is, luxury brands such as Yves Saint Laurent or Dior Homme have not been on the Czech market yet and the interest is all the greater. We could tell that right away after opining,” said Bendlová, whose store Simple is open to the public since the end of March.
Czechs like luxury
Surprisingly, it is mainly Czechs who shop for luxury products at Simple. “Seventy percent of our customers are Czechs. Foreigners shop here also thanks to the weaker crown. But most are local clients,” Bendlová told ČTK. The system of the concept store, that is, a big shopping area offering the best of current fashion design, already exists in fashion metropolises around the world. In Milan there is the luxury department store Corso Como, and in Paris there is the renowned Colette on Rue Saint-Honoré. The Czech store, design by the accomplished architect Adam Slabý, was inspired by Colette.
