Luxury menswear brand Kora by Nilesh Mitesh has launched its third brick-and-mortar store in Tamil Nadu. Located in Chennai’s Anna Nagar, the outlet retails a broad selection of wedding, occasion, and formal wear.
Inside the new Kora by Nilesh Mitesh store in Chennai – Kora by Nilesh Mitesh
The brand’s new 4,200 square foot Chennai store complements its retail outlets in Nungambakkam and Coimbatore and is designed to bring its ethnic wear closer to North Chennai residents, Kora announced in a press release. Inside the bright space, cream coloured textures contrast with chequerboard flooring and black details to create a calm interior that highlights the garments on display.
“The love we’ve received from Chennai has been overwhelming and truly humbling,” said the brand’s founders Nilesh Chhadva and Mitesh Sumbad in a press release. “Our customers in Nungambakkam and across Tamil Nadu have embraced Kora as their destination for meaningful celebrations and everyday elegance. Opening our third store in Tamil Nadu at Anna Nagar is our way of saying thank you and bringing the Kora experience even closer to the wonderful people of Chennai who have made us part of their most cherished moments.”
On 2nd Avenue, shoppers can browse traditional veshti sets, angavastram-styled sherwanis, pancha with coordinated kurtas, and festive silk kurta sets designed for temple visits, weddings, and festivities. Designed to cater to the tastes and preferences of Tamil customers, the store also offers a made to measure service and personalised styling consultations.
To celebrate the store launch, the label invited locals to exclusive previews of new collections. Established in 2011, Kora by Nilesh Mitesh operates 28 stores across three countries: India, the UK, and Dubai.
Valentino Garavani, an icon of Italian fashion, founder of his eponymous maison, and widely regarded as one of the greatest designers of all time, died in Rome on January 19, surrounded by his loved ones.
Born in Voghera, Italy on May 11, 1932, he showed remarkable artistic talent from an early age, which led him to study drawing and fashion in Paris, where he worked with couturiers such as Jean Dessès and Guy Laroche.
Upon returning to Italy, he opened his first atelier on Via Condotti in Rome in 1960, supported by his business partner, Giancarlo Giammetti. International success soon followed: his debut show at Florence’s Palazzo Pitti in 1962 marked his breakthrough, establishing him as an undisputed standard-bearer of Italian fashion worldwide. In 1968, the famous “V” logo was introduced, later becoming the emblem of the maison. Equally iconic is his signature red, inspired by a gown he saw at the opera in his youth, which made this shade a defining hallmark of the house.
Valentino Garavani announced his retirement in 2007, at the age of 75, with a final show celebrating his extraordinary career. His legacy is also chronicled in the 2008 documentary directed by Matt Tyrnauer: “Valentino: The Last Emperor.”
Garavani’s lying in state will be held at PM23, Piazza Mignanelli 23 in Rome, on Wednesday and Thursday, January 21 and 22, 2026, from 11:00 to 18:00. The funeral will take place on Friday, January 23, 2026, at 11:00, at the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, Piazza della Repubblica 8, Rome.
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Maintaining consistency and not over-reacting on pricing is key for retailers as customers seek stability, the CEO of the biggest global IKEA franchisee told Reuters on Monday.
Deputy CEO and CFO of Ingka Group Juvencio Maeztu, visits an IKEA store in London, Britain November 28, 2023 – REUTERS/Maja Smiejkowska/File Photo
After hiking prices during the Covid-19 pandemic due to supply chain disruptions, the world’s biggest furniture retailer has cut prices over the past two years as high inflation and weak housing markets dented consumer demand.
“Companies want to have predictability and stability, but consumers also want to have stability in prices,” Ingka Group CEO Juvencio Maeztu said on the side-lines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. “You have to secure stability as much as possible in the low prices,” he told the Reuters Global Markets Forum.
IKEA has been forced to increase prices again on some products in the United States, where it depends more on imports than elsewhere, to offset the impact of tariffs. Importers are braced for a Supreme Court ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump‘s sweeping global tariffs.
Asked about the ruling Maeztu, who became CEO in November last year, said he did not want to speculate. “What we are learning is we need to take things as they come, one by one,” he said.
“We cannot over-react, especially in pricing. We need to keep some kind of consistency,” he said, adding it was more important than ever to “zoom out” from short-term disruptions.
Ingka Group, which owns stores in 32 markets and accounts for 87% of IKEA sales, reported its lowest annual sales since 2021 in October, after cutting prices to attract consumers. Consumer sentiment across markets is now a “mix of being cautious and optimistic, both at the same time,” Maeztu said.
Kiton closes FY2025 with revenue up 3% at €230 million, and announces its arrival on Milan’s Via Montenapoleone in September.
Kiton, FW 2026/27
The Neapolitan men’s luxury brand grew “consistently across all regions, with the United States confirming its position as the leading market,” the company’s CEO, Antonio De Matteis, tells FashionNetwork.com.
For 2026, the company “already has a significant order book and we are quite confident. Right now, quality pays. End customers are looking for companies of great quality,” the CEO continues.
Today Kiton has 67 single-brand boutiques, which it aims to increase to 70 this year, including through a major investment in Milan. “In September we will open our second flagship in Milan, on Via Montenapoleone. It will be a very important step for us. We are not relocating; we are doubling up. We already have a 250 square-metre, two-storey space,” De Matteis reveals.
The focus on the wholesale channel has also been renewed. “I call it the training ground for companies, where they can test themselves against their competitors. Today the big department stores are the ones suffering; we hope this phase will pass. We remain convinced that wholesale will never end, because customers always enjoy shopping where they can see a broader selection of items,” says the entrepreneur.
In terms of product range, Kiton has turbocharged its accessories. “My nephew, who oversees the line, is doing an excellent job. The third generation is bringing us great satisfaction. KNT is also doing very well. It remains our great laboratory where we experiment with fabrics, patterns, proportions, and silhouettes. It is a tremendous help to the company. It shows us how far we can push and how far our end customer is willing to go,” De Matteis continues.
Kiton’s number one then downplays the impact of Trump’s tariffs. “The biggest issue this year has been the effect of exchange rates. Tariffs were not a problem, but we suffered a lot from the dollar’s depreciation. It costs us a few million in revenue and margin. Today the euro is too strong; it penalises us. We sell a year in advance, but ultimately we take in less,” notes the CEO.
In Milan, the brand presented its latest collection inside a “cinema” that shone a light on the behind-the-scenes of the historic tailoring house. “At a time when the supply chain is being called into question, we show how our garments are made. We own 100% of all the companies that make our products. ‘The Truth of Making’ is an expression of our transparency,” says De Matteis, who concludes with an anecdote from the founder, Ciro Paone. “My uncle used to say ‘The customer forgets the price and remembers the quality’.”
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