It is not a crowded sector like others in fashion, but perhaps it is even more competitive, because it requires stylistic and manufacturing know-how and, more importantly, pre and post sales services. For this reason, in 2014, Sandro Veronesi, founder and president of the Calzedonia group, made a bold bet to buy and relaunch the Atelier Emé wedding dress brand.
Fast growth thanks to the network of physical stores
Strengthened by its history (it was born in 1961) and the solidity of the Veneto group, in a few years Atelier Emé has become one of the best-known wedding (and ceremony) brands in Italy and expansion abroad is just a matter of times. “The creative aspect is the heart of the maison, but we have grown so quickly in numbers and in the imagination of women because we have invested heavily in physical stores – explains Raffaella Fusetti, creative director of Atelier Emé since the acquisition by Calzedonia. -. The purchase of the dress is an integral part of the dream that every bride wants to live when setting the wedding date. No matter how pervasive technology has become, with virtual dressing rooms or videochat: the choice must be made in the presence, together with people close to the bride and with the assistance, pre and post sales, of qualified and, above all, empathetic personnel “.
In the new artisan workshop of 5 thousand square meters
Choosing and buying a wedding dress is not something you can do on the web, exactly as (almost) nothing would justify a digital wedding instead of in person. «The sector has suffered greatly from the pandemic, we know – adds Raffaella Fusetti -. However, it is recovering just as quickly and this is also the best time to present the new headquarters in Grole, a fraction of Castiglione delle Stiviere, in the province of Mantua: 5 thousand square meters that house the style and production office, even if perhaps we should speak of a large artisan laboratory ».
A team of seven stylists and 65 seamstresses brings the dresses to life
Raffaella Fusetti leads a team of seven stylists, who design the collections (the main two a year, but the supplies in the shops are monthly, different from city to city), while about 65 seamstresses give life to the dresses. A female team, also in line with the philosophy of the Calzedonia group, where women are about 80%. «Each seamstress is specialized in a particular phase: cutting and sewing, embroidery, assembly, research of fabrics, applications, finishing and touch-ups by hand», underlines Raffaella Fusetti.
The difference between the group’s strategies and those of Atelier Emé concerns communication: «Word of mouth works for wedding dresses, which in turn lends itself to being amplified by digital channels – concludes the designer -. And there is no more powerful word of mouth than that linked to the wedding dress, because we will always associate it with a very strong and, in many cases, unrepeatable emotion ».