Sanahunt’s Oskana Moroz-Hunt on Developing Luxury Menswear in Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine — Occupying a four-storey mansion in Kyiv, Sanahunt, a veritable bazaar of shop-in-shops, homes greater than 200 manufacturers arrayed over 7,000 sq. metres of retail house, making it the biggest luxurious retailer in Ukraine. Its menswear division shares over 50 manufacturers, together with Tom Ford, Brunello Cucinelli, Brioni, Kiton, Lanvin and Alexander McQueen — all of which selected the shop as their entry level into the Ukrainian market. BoF spoke to Oksana Moroz-Hunt, president and founding father of Sanahunt, to be taught extra.

BoF: Inform me about Sanahunt’s total method.

OMH: Our aim is to current our shoppers’ goals with out borders and switch these goals into actuality for them. The shop has set the rhythm for the event of the style market in Ukraine and in a lot of Japanese Europe. Having launched initially as a luxurious boutique, stocking attire solely, Sanahunt has step-by-step been reworked right into a peculiar type laboratory and a spot to trade concepts, experiences and mutual creativity, tapping the brightest and most gifted people immediately. The placement of our retailer, within the very centre of town, can also be a significant enterprise benefit. It’s a basic definition of the three L’s — location, location, location — which is so essential within the retail enterprise, particularly when it is luxurious retail.

BoF: Who’s Sanahunt’s menswear buyer and the way has this buyer developed over time?

OMH: It is a trendy man that utterly corresponds to the values of the twenty first century. He travels incessantly, works quite a bit and his time is of excessive worth. That’s the reason he’s coming to Sanahunt, as he’s positive to search out, on this one united house, the whole lot that he wants for each his enterprise and casual life.

Males are slowly bidding farewell to the bias that has, for therefore lengthy, prevented them from trying good-looking and trendy. Now they extra willingly take heed to the opinion of the consultant-stylists, they attempt to be in a very good bodily form in order that the garments of their favorite manufacturers match them completely and so they have began to experiment with colors, minimize and materials. Nevertheless a lot of them nonetheless have a ardour for well-known names and worth model acknowledgement greater than type and the creation of their very own distinctive look.

BoF: What are Sanahunt’s key males’s manufacturers and product classes?

OMH: Within the menswear division, we signify greater than 50 manufacturers. Traditional giants, probably the most well-known shoe masters and younger innovators are all right here. If we’re speaking concerning the basic division, the main sellers are Brunello Cucinelli, Brioni, Zilli, Artioli and Bontoni, whereas within the style division, probably the most profitable are Tom Ford, Lanvin and Philipp Plein. The important thing product classes in menswear are fits, knitwear, outerwear, footwear and equipment; they’ve undoubtedly been the important thing income drivers over the previous 10 years.

BoF: How have Ukraine’s present political troubles impacted Sanahunt?

OMH: In fact, the occasions of the final months have been a ‘chilly bathe’ for us. Nevertheless, as one may think, a ‘chilly bathe’ trains the physique and sobers the thoughts. The disaster has acted as an impulse for us to make a variety of strategic and operational selections within the firm. It ought to be famous that Sanahunt has been in the marketplace for 15 years and this isn’t the primary disaster, or the primary time we’ve got encountered difficulties alongside the way in which. The key, most probably, is in the truth that Sanahunt just isn’t a short-term venture; it’s a lifelong work with massive plans and even larger ambitions.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Sanahunt is considered one of 30 main menswear retailers lately recognised by The Business of Fashion and Pitti Immagine. To discover the total checklist, go to BoF’s new Menswear Hub, the place additionally, you will discover menswear information and evaluation from BoF correspondents and across the net, in addition to a stay index of probably the most influential individuals shaping the worldwide menswear market.