New developments at Elena Mirò, the brand founded in 1985 and historically specialised in plus-size womenswear from the Miroglio Group, based in Alba, which is marking its 40th anniversary with a capsule collection that bridges its stylistic past and future, while preparing several mono-brand store openings in Italy and Lebanon and setting an overall focus on the Middle East in 2026 — without neglecting mature markets.

“We chose to concentrate the celebration of the brand’s 40th anniversary in this final part of the year, with an early rollout in stores in September, when the campaign created specifically to celebrate the brand’s values was launched,” Fabio Assecondi, brand director of Elena Mirò, explained to FashionNetwork.com.

“On October 16, we celebrated the anniversary in Milan with a VR-led event, which will also be rolled out in stores, bringing to life the interpretation we collectively agreed on within the company to honour these 40 years: a lifestyle capsule collection for AW 2025/26 called ‘Rosso Mirò’, featuring a rich palette with red taking centre stage.”

Red, the brand says, becomes the capsule’s defining code and signature hue, around which an evolving wardrobe takes shape — conceived as a bridge between Elena Mirò’s stylistic heritage and its future — built on sculpted silhouettes, innovative materials and couture details, with animalier accents translated into refined patterns and contrasts.

Comprising around forty pieces in sizes 42 to 58 — as with the brand’s entire offer — the capsule spans multiple product categories to reflect the brand’s essence today, and is aligned with the pricing of Elena Mirò’s classic collections.

Italy continues to be the label’s primary market, but international markets now account for 40 per cent of revenue, a figure achieved fairly evenly across all channels.

“The Iberian Peninsula remains Mirò’s second-largest market, thanks to our presence there for 26 years and our collaboration with El Corte Inglés,” Assecondi said.

“We are consolidating European distribution. In fact, we have just reopened our two-level, 100-square-metre flagship in Paris after a major redesign. In France we operate six stores and three concessions, while in Germany we do not have direct distribution for now, but we work closely with Breuninger, which has become one of our key accounts outside Italy.”

Also well positioned in Greece, the Piedmontese brand this year opened a mono-brand store in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, and will open two stores in Lebanon by the end of the year. “The Middle East will be our focus, thanks to the excellent fit with the brand’s style and with the customer profile in that part of the world,” the brand director assured.

“We are also considering further openings in Italy, where this year we have opened two new outlet stores, at Scalo Milano and Marcianise, and where the focus is on operational management and boosting performance. Online sales are delivering excellent results,” the executive continues, “up by 60 per cent last year, with a country breakdown very similar to the situation in physical retail, with Italy accounting for just under 60 per cent, followed by Germany, Spain and France, alongside many other active countries.”

“We have a very loyal client base, which we absolutely do not want to lose, but to grow we also need new customers, so having a broad size range is important, also in terms of image,” Assecondi explained.

“In 2022, post-pandemic — when the market was still well below pre-Covid levels — we recorded 30 per cent more new customers than in 2019; the following years also saw double-digit growth. Above all, when we look at who these new customers are, we find that what we call the ‘Size Extension’, namely sizes 46–52, is our core and must remain so. But it is equally interesting that 20 per cent of our new customers fall into sizes 42 and 44. If we then look at tourists, sizes 42 and 44 reach 35 per cent. In addition, retention rates are very high by market standards, at almost 50 per cent.”

The Miroglio group (about 4,000 employees including store staff; 400 in the business unit; around 70 at headquarters) recorded turnover of 588 million euros in 2024, up sharply from 530 million in 2023. Assecondi reports 8 per cent growth for Elena Mirò on a like-for-like basis across all direct channels, with the online channel now accounting for nearly 15 per cent of the brand’s direct sales.