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It doesn't just take quality craftsmanship and bejeweled designs to sell Rene Caovilla's luxury footwear.
It also takes business savvy, especially in today's global marketplace. And that is exactly what Edoardo Caovilla has brought to his family's Italian brand.
"Eight years ago, my father called me in and told me that customers were becoming younger and younger," Caovilla explains.
His father asked him, at age 36, to become chief operating officer. Having worked in finance and possessing a degree in business administration, Caovilla was comfortable with his new position. However, two years later, when asked to take on the additional role of artistic director, Caovilla admits it wasn't easy.
"The idea was to create a new interpretation of our DNA," he says.
That meant global expansion and moving into new lines of shoes while retaining the company's unique decorative style and price point. Rene Caovilla was already well known among a coterie of affluent customers, including Rihanna, Beyoncé and Sarah Jessica Parker. But Caovilla knew the company needed to evolve.
"Customers have to like your DNA," says Caovilla. "But you also have to meet the taste of your customer."
To do this, he encouraged designs of a wider range of footwear, from chunky heels and flats to espadrilles and running shoes, all the while maintaining the company's trademark sparkly crystal decoration. This design reflects the origin of the brand in Fiesso D'Artico, an area near Venice, which is known for its glasswork, glittery refinement and ornamentation.
The strategy was a success. Today, the brand's clientele has expanded to include women from a wide range of ages and backgrounds, primarily located in the United States, Asia and Europe.
"I am proud of taking the company into this new phase - global," says Caovilla. "Now, we are one of the most contemporary luxury brands."
But Caovilla is not standing still. Even though he's comfortably settled in Milan with his wife and three children, he's intent on expanding the company even further - into accessories.
"No other company that started in this field has been able to do this," Caovilla explains. "I want to retain the same DNA we have in shoes in the future when we expand into other accessories." O