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Lola Casademunt keen to grow in Italy, mulls first mono-brand store in the country

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Lola Casademunt keen to grow in Italy, mulls first mono-brand store in the country


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Nicola Mira

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October 6, 2025

Lola Casademunt, the Spanish womenswear and accessories label founded in 1981 in Cardedeu, near Barcelona, has been growing at a swift pace. In 2020, the label was available in Spain and Portugal only, and generated a revenue of €8 million. It now has a presence in 42 markets, and closed fiscal 2024 with a revenue of nearly €57 million, up 25% over to the previous year. FashionNetwork.com asked Lola Casademunt’s CEO Paco Sánchez, in charge of the label with the founder’s daughter Maite Casademunt as president and creative director, and her husband, Fernando Espona, as president, what is the secret of the label’s success.

Paco Sánchez, CEO of Lola Casademunt

 
“Work, work and more work,” he answered with a grin. “I joined the company in February 2020, just before the pandemic. The latter was obviously a disaster for everyone, but it actually gave me time to think how to go about developing the brand. We have worked a great deal on our product range, boosting quality, expanding the assortment and relaunching accessories. The label started out with accessories, but in recent years the category was rather dormant. We also set up a team to support the label’s international expansion. And we have invested in advertising.”  
 
The recipe has clearly been successful. The label currently has some 140 employees at its Cardedeu site, and operates 29 mono-brand stores in Spain as well as 44 concessions at El Corte Inglés department stores, plus three stores in Portugal, two in Andorra, two in Riyadh, one in Jeddah, concessions in Puerto Rico, and 14 shop-in-shops in Mexico. In addition to its direct retail network, Lola Casademunt is currently distributed via over 1,500 multi-brand retailers, of which about 840 outside Spain.

Lola Casademunt showed the Spring/Summer 2026 collection at Madrid Fashion Week
Lola Casademunt showed the Spring/Summer 2026 collection at Madrid Fashion Week

 
“We currently generate about 35% of revenue outside our domestic market. Our main foreign market is Portugal, while second place is a matter between France and Italy,” said Sánchez. “We entered Italy three and a half years ago, and in 2024 we generated a revenue of approximately €8 million there. We’re available at 180 multi-brand retailers, mostly in central and southern Italy, and we want to grow that number. We’re also starting to think about our first Italian mono-brand store, which could open in 2027. We’re considering either Milan or Rome,” he added.
 
Nearly all the Italian multi-brand retailers currently selling Lola Casademunt are apparel stores but, having relaunched its accessories and footwear lines, the label is planning to grow commercially also with retailers specialising in these categories.

The new Lola Casademunt 1981 handbag
The new Lola Casademunt 1981 handbag

 
Lola Casademunt isn’t overlooking its online potential. In 2020, it didn’t have an e-shop, while now it is available on leading e-tailers like El Corte Inglés, Zalando and About You, and operates e-shops in nine markets, including Italy. In five years, the label’s online sales have grown to account for 14% of total revenue.  
 
The label currently has two product lines: Lola Casademunt, where ready-to-wear collections feature vibrant, affordable fashion with plenty of character; and Lola Casademunt by Maite, a premium line designed by creative director Maite Casademunt, which shows at the Madrid and Barcelona fashion weeks.
 

The leopard-print version of the Lola Casademunt 1981 handbag
The leopard-print version of the Lola Casademunt 1981 handbag

FashionNetwork.com met the label’s senior management in Milan, for the launch of the new Lola Casademunt 1981 handbag, a model celebrating the label’s heritage, roots and product expertise. The handbag blends style and functionality, featuring details like a cylindrical metal handle engraved with the logo and personalised inserts, a tribute to the label’s jewellery past; a lateral braid, recalling Lola Casademunt’s early days with hair accessories; and an interchangeable leather-effect studded shoulder strap. The handbag is available in small, medium and large sizes, in five colours, and two different prints.
 
What is such a fast-growing label expecting from 2025? “This has been a tough year for everyone, also because of the wars and the general economic situation. We expect to reach a revenue of €60 million, growing approximately 6%,” said Sánchez. “However, the Spring/Summer 2026 commercial campaign is recording increases in the order of 30%,” he concluded.

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Xreal files patent suit against rival smart glasses maker Viture

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Xreal files patent suit against rival smart glasses maker Viture


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Bloomberg

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January 15, 2026

Xreal Inc., a Chinese pioneer in smart glasses, is suing Viture Inc. for patent infringement in the US, arguing its rival has unfairly capitalized on Xreal’s extensive research and investment in the segment.

A pair of smart glasses – Bloomberg

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in eastern Texas, accuses San Francisco-founded Viture of unlawfully incorporating Xreal’s patented inventions into smart glasses such as the Luma Pro, Luma Ultra, and a high-end pair called The Beast.

Both Xreal and Viture manufacture augmented reality, or AR, glasses that plug into devices like smartphones and laptops, offering viewers a large virtual display for watching movies or handling productivity tasks. Technical specifications like display resolution and field of view- the size of the augmented world you can see at any given time- are often very similar between the two brands. 

Their US legal battle comes ahead of what is expected to be a pivotal moment for the segment, with Apple Inc. expected to make its category debut as soon as this year, Bloomberg has reported.

Xreal holds over 800 patent and patent applications worldwide, including dozens in the US and Europe, it said in a statement Thursday announcing the lawsuit. “By comparison, Viture owns approximately or fewer than 70 patent and patent applications globally, with none in the United States or Europe,” it added. 

“The lawsuit is not merely about enforcing a single patent,” Xreal said in the statement. “It is about stopping a pattern of intellectual property infringement that undermines the integrity of innovation and endangers continued technological development in this industry.”

Xreal holds more global market share than Viture in the AR eyewear category, according to research firm IDC. But both companies lag far behind Meta Platforms Inc., which has come the closest to mainstream success with its Ray-Ban line of smart glasses.

At the CES technology trade show earlier this month, Xreal unveiled a new entry-level pair of glasses and a co-branded set of glasses developed with Taiwan’s Asustek Computer Inc. It also announced that it’s extending a partnership with Alphabet Inc.’s Google.

Xreal said in the statement that these and other collaborators are “owed confidence that their co-developed products will not also be threatened by infringers attempting to benefit from infringement or undermined by unauthorized usage of IP.”



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Soshiotsuki wows with international debut at Pitti Uomo 109

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Soshiotsuki wows with international debut at Pitti Uomo 109


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January 15, 2026

Designer Soshi Otsuki won himself a huge ovation at the key gala show of Pitti Uomo on Thursday after presenting a brilliant collection that celebrated classic western tailoring, even as it subverted its codes.

Soshiotsuki’s take on tailoring at Pitti – FashionNetwork.com

 
A tour de force of draping, cutting, and silhouette, this fall 2026 collection from his brand Soshiotsuki was definitely a major fashion statement.
 
In a moment of volume in menswear, Otsuki opened the action with a perfectly judged trio of to-die-for double-breasted suits with peak lapels in crepe and fine wool in various shades of grey- cement, mud, or dove.

He cut his jackets to end well below the hip and his trousers were something else. Made with a half-dozen front pleats, they were elephantine but never outrageous. Otsuki is such a great natural tailor, the exaggeration merely added to the elegance.

Soshiotsuki
Soshiotsuki – FashionNetwork.com

 
Soshi is no slouch when it comes to leather either. From his copper-hued leather rock god suit to his cocoon style leather bomber jacket. And, just when you thought he was playing a little too safe, he sent out some fab jeans, so degraded they almost looked moth-eaten. Tokyo street style meets sartorial Italian.
 
Playing on couture techniques, the designer also whipped up several bias-cut green corduroy blazers and suits marrying Japanese eccentricity and British aplomb.
 
The show was the latest Italian/Japanese marriage at this edition of Pitti that began with a Sebiro Sanpo tailoring association Japanese suit march inside the Fortezza da Basso, the giant fortress where the salon is staged. Remarkably, Otsuki has never actually studied suiting formally, but he somehow understands it instinctively.

Soshiotsuki
Soshiotsuki – FashionNetwork.com

 
The soundtrack, culled from composer Joe Hisaishi’s soundtrack to Takeshi Kitano’s 2000 gangster movie Brother, featured a beautifully yearning saxophone solo. It would have felt just right for one of Douglas Sirk’s 1950s melodramas starring Rock Hudson. One almost expected Rock to take the final passage. 
 
Presented inside the beautiful Refetterio Santa Maria della Novella, a looming Gothic refectory at the back of the legendary Renaissance Basilica, this was a bravura display.
 
Altogether, a bases loaded, home run, smash hit collection. One could say it felt like a star is born moment in menswear, except that Soshi Otsuki was already acclaimed. He is the latest winner of the LVMH Prize. 
 
Talk about backing up winning an award with a great fashion statement.
 
 

Copyright © 2026 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.



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Skincare brand Genaura promotes marketer Young to MD

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Skincare brand Genaura promotes marketer Young to MD


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January 15, 2026

Luxury skincare brand Genaura has promoted Nicola Young to managing director, moving up from chief marketing officer following the brand’s product launch to market in September. 

Genaura

Young’s promotion is underscored by “an impressive career”, which has included senior positions at Carlton Screen Advertising, marketing director at Jazz FM and Magic 105.4FM, and group director of Marketing at radio conglomerate Global Player. 

Most notably, her beauty industry involvement included director of Media UK at Estée Lauder Co.

Young said the launch of Genaura “has the potential to revolutionise the beauty and wellness sector… my experience in this field has helped drive the marketing vision so far, and I look forward to progressing even further”. 

She added: “Looking to… the growth of Genaura, I am excited to scale and innovate whilst remaining authentic to the scientific background of the product, planning global recognition of this revolutionary ingredient exclusive to Genaura.”

Available in the UK currently, the business has “aspirations for 2026 and beyond… extending skincare products within the range.”  

Genaura claims to be a “world first in skincare”, with its Genaura Levagen + Smart Face serum “boasting a powerhouse formula alongside patented technology… creating an ‘age-proofing’ approach to the skin and supporting the skin’s natural barrier function”.

Copyright © 2026 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.



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