More Italian fashion brands to enter Qatari market: Ambassador

With a number of Italian luxury fashion brands already existing in the Qatari market, fashion aficionados in the country can expect to see more of such iconic Italian fashion houses setting up shops in Qatar, Italy’s Ambassador to Qatar, Alessandro Prunas said yesterday. 
Talking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of a press conference on ‘Italian and Qatari Fashionistas’ organised by the Qatari Business Women Association (QBWA) in partnership with the Italian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Prunas reiterated that the sales of Italian fashion products have increased in Qatar despite the COVID-19 pandemic. 
“That tells a lot on how the Italian fashion industry which is a very large industry is incredibly popular in Qatar, and worldwide. Loro Piana was also just inaugurated about two months ago at the Qatar Duty Free. With Loro Piana, we’re talking about top range, very luxurious, incredibly beautiful products. I’m sure in the run up to the World Cup, many more will come. Because again, the World Cup is putting Qatar on the spotlight and a lot of tourists, not just locals, will be coming here. This obviously will increase market opportunity. So I’m quite confident that many more will come here,” said Prunas. 
It may be noted that the renowned Italian fashion house Loro Piana has opened its first travel retail boutique in the Middle East at the Hamad International Airport in December. The new boutique offers an exotic collection of fashion items from the world’s foremost cashmere brand. The Italian Ambassador went on to reiterate Qatari investments in Italy’s fashion sector, including the Qatari purchase of the famous Valentino brand in 2012. 
“Qatar has also invested in fashion in Italy, with Valentino being acquired by Mayhoola for Investments. So they invested in it leaving its nature and operations under Italian management and Italian designers in Italy, where the artisanship is very good. And Valentino has grown exponentially since Mayhoola has bought it. It has increased its profit more than 100 percent in five years. The fashion market in Italy is so vibrant. There’s so many brands and it’s always moving. I’m sure they (Qatari investors) will be looking at other opportunities,” added Prunas. 
Trade volume between Qatar and Italy reached €1.3bn during the first nine months of 2020.