EXCLUSIVE: Inside Santoni’s New and Improved Madison Avenue Boutique
Stephen Garner
Senior Editor
The constant retail shuffling on Madison Avenue continues this week with the soft opening of Santoni’s relocated Upper East Side boutique.
Located at 667 Madison Avenue, next to the new Jimmy Choo store that opened in December, Santoni moved its store three blocks uptown from its previous space at 625 Madison Avenue.
According to the company’s executive chairman Giuseppe Santoni, who spoke to FN in an exclusive walkthrough of the two-level store on Thursday, the move was needed as the 30-story building that housed its former boutique is set to be demolished. (It will be replaced by a much larger, 100-floor skyscraper.)
Stepping inside, the new boutique feels vast and airy on the main level, which features a backlit metal grid ceiling that stands at nearly 20 feet high. Santoni noted during Thursday’s walkthrough that the ceiling is built to mimic the natural light outside so that all of the product’s true colors can be seen without the distraction of fluorescent lightbulbs.
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“The move is a good this for us because we were able to find a bigger space,” Santoni said. “This new store is a lot brighter. I’m very excited, and I believe that even the business will be different here in the new space. I expect it will be better, and also for the experience will be better for our consumer.”
Conceived by architect and designer Patricia Urquiola, the roughly 3,800-sq.-ft. boutique pairs shades of orange, terracotta and rose with champagne brass details for a warm environment. Most of the walls are covered in either orange tinted mirrors or three-dimensional paneling, and are accented with fine Italian marble, including onyx and travertine consoles, shelves and partitions.
The store continues to a lower level that features the “Bespoke Santoni” area, where patrons can have a custom shopping experience. A section of this level is also reserved for the artisanal workshop, where a long Rosso Verona marble surface serves as a workbench for one of Santoni’s shoemakers, who can repair, polish and resole customers’ shoes.
Along with the brand’s shoes, bags and accessories, the boutique will also carry a dedicated capsule collection featuring men’s and women’s accessories. The Carter wholecut oxfords, the Vanguard briefcase, the Marta slingback and a classic belt highlight the collection. The men’s styles appear in hand-painted brown leather with color options that customers can customize with the guidance of Santoni artisans, while the Marta slingback is imagined in calfskin leather in a silver color with the signature ton-sur-ton maxi buckle covered in crystals.
This opening follows the unveiling of a similar space designed by Urquiola last month in Milan. On Feb. 8, at Via Montenapoleone 18, the Spanish designer and architect unveiled her vision for the Marche, Italy-based company’s new retail concept that will be applied to all new stores going forward.
The Via Montenapoleone boutique, which spans approximately 1,615-sq.-ft., is characterized by a large hallway with terrazzo flooring, typical of the Milanese tradition.
Santoni noted that this new design concept will be translated to more stores as locations roll out. “We have a plan to open more stores by the end of 2025 or beginning of 2026 in the U.S. in different cities,” the executive chairman said. “The U.S. is our biggest market, so this retail growth will be great for us.”
The executive added that the Middle East continues to be a hot market for the company, with more locations slated to open in the region this year, including a second store in Dubai and a Doha location. All told, six stores are slated to open globally this year.
Santoni said that 2024 was a successful year, with sales increasing 7 percent globally, with sales in the U.S. increasing 18 percent for the year. “Much of our growth in the U.S. comes from our continued expansion into women’s shoes and bags,” Santoni explained. “Looking ahead, we will keep focusing on these categories, as well as our small leather goods and accessories as we aim to keep growing.”
