PARIS — Golden Goose is dreaming big, bringing its Haus of Dreamers all-encompassing cultural concept to Paris Fashion Week.
The shoe brand, best known for its Superstar style, will stage a series of mini-takeovers before a splashy skate-themed event at Paris’ Jardin des Plantes on Oct. 2.
Co-creating with some of the city’s cultural institutions, the company will be taking over the menu at Hotel Grand Amour; curating an exclusive bouquet wrap at florist L’Arrosoir; welcoming guests to Apéro Club at Rupture Arts & Books inside La Vaporeuse, and creating Haus cookies at Union Boulangerie, as well as a sandwich inside Room Service’s pop-up shop.
The brand is also making city maps of all of its installations for the curious to seek out the events.
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Continuing to collaborate with the Paris shops, Golden Goose is also creating whimsical one-of-a-kind objects, including a backgammon set with Hotel Grand Amour, and a watering can with L’Arrosoir, among other items that will be limited-edition releases rolling out over the next few months.
Chief executive officer Silvio Campara said the citywide takeover is part of the company’s aim to build the “dreamers community,” bringing in creatives from such diverse disciplines as food and travel.
Campara said this is the 22-year-old brand’s first activation in a fashion environment, and they wanted to do something other than a party or a runway-type show. Instead, he wants to celebrate the locals with items integrated into locations, and celebrate the community of Paris.
“The fashion crowd will see the execution of what ‘fashion’ means for Golden Goose and I think they will be quite surprised,” he said. “It’s about unleashing creativity, unleashing sentiment and about connecting people.”
The brand sought out bakers and florists as collaborators to express the brand’s philosophy of everyday beauty and living in the now, he said.
“Most of the time fashion tends to celebrate the past or celebrate a future that is not really clear,” he said. “Our end goal is celebrating the present, celebrating the now, which makes people feel connected.
“Paris is the perfect stage for every kind of cultural expression,” he said of holding the events to coincide with Paris Fashion Week. “We love the idea of localization of events,” Campara said.
When he spoke to WWD he was fresh off the plane from Seoul, where Golden Goose celebrated the launch of a new style.
The Oct. 2 event will showcase skateboarding as well as incorporate small, house-style installations in the Jardin des Plantes, and intended to convey a relaxed atmosphere instead of a big blowout bash. It will release a limited-edition shoe the same day, distressed white with “Paris” embroidered into a silver heel collar.
The brand is also celebrating the reopening of its Paris flagship store on Rue des Saints-Pères, which opened Sept. 5. With the renovation, the store expanded to 4,000 square feet, with 10 expansive windows and plenty of open space. Its repair bar sits center stage in the new layout, promoting the brand’s sustainability commitments.
“We want to make people evolve together with us,” he said. The brand introduced its “Forward Store” concept with the first outpost in Milan last July.
Within the store shoppers can customize shoes, order bespoke sneakers and tailored suits from a pre-set menu of fits and fabrics, or codesign a pair of shoes with an in-house cobbler.
The store also includes an in-store curated consignment space for customers to resell vintage Golden Goose pieces.
The Milan store has seen 6,000 pairs brought in for repair or customization in its first year. He noted that 38 percent of those were not Golden Goose sneakers, reinforcing the brand’s commitment to overall action.
The Paris store saw 26 pairs brought in during the first week the service was available, added Campara.
That the repair bar sits front-and-center in the new store layout is indicative of how the company’s retail strategy has shifted from when it first opened in Paris a decade ago, he said.
During fashion week, Golden Goose will also be adding new, interactive displays and activities in its outposts at Le Bon Marché and Galeries Lafayette, both the Boulevard Haussmann and Avenue des Champs-Élysées stores. The experiences will be differentiated for all three.
“Instead of invading with one concept and trying to maximize the idea, we try to shoot from the point of view of the consumer and want to enhance and surprise at every touchpoint. It’s about many voices,” he said.
In the company’s most recent financial results released in April, Golden Goose saw revenues climb 30 percent to 500.9 million euros in the 12 months to Dec. 31, 2021. Sales were 88 percent higher than 2020.
Campara credited the boom to the strategy shift. “The reason why we are growing so much is not just because of the sneakers, but because of the full narrative and explanation of what it is around the sneakers,” he said.
Golden Goose will continue its cultural drive with the opening of the Haus concept in Marghera, outside of Venice, which will open its doors in May during the Art Biennale.
This story was reported by WWD and originally appeared on WWD.com.
