France in her sights
03/09/2007
Spanish designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada has said her aim is to make a greater impression on the French market with her footwear and other creations.
She took as a positive sign the number of French clients who passed through her flagship boutique in Barcelona this summer.
But, in the build up to the Moda Calzado exhibition in Madrid later this month, Ms Ruiz said France was proving a hard nut for her to crack. "To be honest, France has been a difficult place for me to do business," she said. "That's in spite of having done my first fashion show there in 1994 and having set myself up in Paris, for half the time at least, in 1998. Italy is much easier. I have 800 points of sale for my shoes in Italy, but maybe only 25 in France."
She said she would like to remedy the situation by producing more collections for French retailers. She has already worked with Printemps, Galeries Lafayette, Bon Marché, La Samaritaine and BHV.
