Borsalino opens second Paris store and lines up Beijing and Shenzhen

Borsalino has opened its second stand-alone store in Paris, at 24 rue Marbeuf steps from the Champs-Élysées. At 160 square feet, it is small, and the Italian hatmaker says the shop is a signal of bigger retail ambitions rather than a destination in itself.

The Paris store

The store joins an historic Left Bank address and two department store corners in the brand's Paris portfolio. Opening it followed a yearlong search for the right location, a process general manager Mauro Baglietto frames as deliberate: a monobrand store is expensive and has to be profitable.

"The monobrand store is also a way to have a direct relationship with customers and explain what the new Borsalino is, and how contemporary we are," Baglietto said. Hat-making forms and tools are alongside modern fixtures in the fitted-out space, designed with architect Nicola Quadri.

The interior carries a checked pattern on the walls and carpet inspired by the uniforms hat-making workers once wore. A table by the Italian industrial designer Ignazio Gardella anchors the room, a find that matters because Gardella worked on Borsalino's first showroom in the 1950s.

The brand has been backed by private equity firm Haeres Equita since 2018. It has also opened five stores in Italian airports since then, two in Rome, two in Milan and one in Venice, and Baglietto calls the travel retail business already "super successful" for driving awareness.

Tourism now sits at the heart of the model. Foreign customers account for roughly 50 percent of sales at Borsalino's Milan stores, with American shoppers the largest international group, and Baglietto expects the tourist share at the new Paris boutique to be at least as high.

China expansion

China is the bigger bet. After testing with a six-month pop-up in Shanghai, Borsalino opened a permanent store at the Plaza 66 luxury shopping centre in September. Baglietto describes the reception as "strong," particularly among younger consumers drawn to the company's history and manufacturing.

Beijing and Shenzhen are next. The company is already in negotiations for locations in both cities, aiming to open them before the end of the year or in the first quarter of 2027. The customer mix there inverts the global pattern: women are 60 percent of Borsalino's buyers in China.

Globally the split is roughly reversed, with men at about 60 percent of customers and women 40 percent. Fedoras and Panama hats remain the core of the business, but baseball caps, beanies and packable designs that fold into a suitcase are creating entry points for a younger clientele.

The company has spent five years revamping that image, expanding its women's range and developing less-structured silhouettes. A hat can take upward of 50 hours to hand-make, which Baglietto says gives the accessories the full luxury pedigree at a more accessible price than ready-to-wear.

"Accessories are much easier to buy right now than a suit or something more ready-to-wear," he said, adding that hats are appearing across fashion runways and that customers now want quality and value for money. That combination, he argues, leaves Borsalino in a very good position.

New categories are filling out the store. A men's and women's fragrance launched a year ago, and handbags are entering their first full season, with five models in the Paris boutique. Sunglasses and footwear will follow in own-brand retail as the company paints a more complete picture.

Still, hats are expected to stay around 90 percent of sales, Baglietto said. The approach to growth remains selective across every channel: rather than an aggressive count, Borsalino wants the right location, the right customer and the right size in each market it enters.

The US roadmap

The United States is on a longer clock. Recent pop-ups in Miami and Los Angeles were hits and demand is there, Baglietto said, with New York, the Hamptons and Costa Mesa, California all on the radar. Permanent American stores are not expected to be explored until 2028.

The openings land in a challenged luxury market, where accessories carry an edge. China's Golden Week mall traffic hit a two-year high, we reported, even as LVMH's fashion and leather goods slipped 5 percent in the same quarter, a divergence that favours a $500 hat over a $5,000 suit.

Borsalino is not chasing the square footage of the flagships we cover elsewhere. The 2,800-square-metre Brunello Cucinelli store on Rue Saint-Honoré and Balmain's 3,200-square-foot Milan flagship are a different game than a 160-square-foot jewel box, and that modesty is the point.

The pace is measured, but the direction is set. Shanghai is open, Beijing and Shenzhen are under negotiation, and the United States is a 2028 roadmap rather than an immediate push. What remains to be seen is whether a 50-hour hat can stretch one boutique into a global direct-to-consumer network.

Support the content you love — it’s free 🎉

Add Worthbury as a preferred source on Google. Our stories will be more likely to appear in Google’s Top Stories. It’s free and supports our team. Thank you!

Add as preferred source

You can remove us any time in Google’s source preferences.

This briefing is published daily using an AI-powered system crafted by Worthbury's team and finely tuned to meet our editorial standards. While we continuously test and review the output, mistakes can sometimes happen. Tell us if you spot one.

Images: Courtesy of Borsalino; Borsalino Courtesy of Borsalino; Mauro Baglietto Courtesy of Borsalino