If you wondered why a portion of Pirelli Tire North America relocated to midtown Manhattan, wonder no more.
Pirelli opened its very first Pirelli Corsa Venezia retail fashion store this week in Milan. The 4 million euro store, located in Milan’s fashion district, is the final extension of the tiremaker’s “P Zero Project,” begun in 2002 with small line of shoes and apparel sold through third parties.
“The link between Pirelli and fashion has its roots in the past,” said Marco Tronchetti Provera, chairman of Pirelli, at the opening of Pirelli’s flagship store. “Over a century ago, the first items of clothing bearing our company’s name appeared. Since then the connection between industry and fashion has remained. We have reached an important juncture with the opening of this home for our ‘rubber soul,’ a physical space which makes tangible the creativity, experimentation and capacity for innovation that characterizes all Pirelli products.
“Becoming a part of people’s lives through the creation of everyday objects means having the opportunity of understanding their tastes and catching new trends as they emerge,” he said. “It is also what industry needs to do every day. And this is another reason why, at Pirelli, fashion and industry go hand in hand.”
Tronchetti Provera told media at the opening that based on it success in its hometown of Milan, Pirelli might open additional retail stores in Brazil or China. "We will definitely look at opportunities to export the idea," he said.
Rumors abound, too, that Pirelli will launch its own line of shoes, starting with a branded running shoe co-designed with “a U.S. sports brand” that is to launch in December.
