La Martina celebrates its 30th Birthday in style by opening a stunning new flagship store in London’s St James’s. The polo lifestyle brand will take up residency in the St James’s Gateway redevelopment on Jermyn Street, which already plays host to globally renowned brands and royal warrant holders.
During London Fashion Week, La Martina will be hosting an ‘Open House’ to showcase the new St James’s collection -made and designed in London- which it is set to be a quintessentially British range of tailoring.
The official launch party takes place later in April, the most auspicious sell-out period and the start of the 2015 UK polo season, and will involve some of the most high profile polo players in the world, as well as celebrity and VIP guests from both London and Europe. This event focuses on bringing together the different elements of the La Martina brand – tradition and style, sport and fashion.
Lando Simonetti, the founder of La Martina, commented: “La Martina has long been working on plans to open a flagship store here in London, one of the leading luxury retail sectors of the world. The right location has always been paramount for us and so we are delighted to have signed a lease for this wonderful store in the heart of the renowned Jermyn Street, already home to some of the most respected names in shirt making and men’s accessories”
La Martina’s new lifestyle concept store, with comfortable sofas and an exceptional level of hospitality, is designed to become an international hub and destination store for the sport of Polo. Furthermore, it will also become the official home of PMG (Polo Management Group), a sister company of La Martina’s which focuses on event management and the development of the sport on a global level.
La Martina St James’s boasts a large section dedicated specifically to the promotion and sale of technical polo equipment, and an expert sales team will be on hand to demonstrate the unique and ground-breaking technical developments that La Martina continues to invest significantly in.
In 2009, La Martina strengthened its presence in the UK by opening a Pro-Shop at Guards Polo Club, the most illustrious Polo Club in Europe, founded by Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh and set in the beautiful grounds of Windsor Great Park. The new Guards Store was officially opened by HM The Queen when she cut the ribbon in the presence of hundreds of guests and members, and she became the first person to tour the Store together with Prince Philip. The Guards Pro-Shop complimented perfectly with the boutique in Harrods which opened some years previously, and together they formed the foundation on which the brand could establish this new flagship store.
In partnership with the values of the renovated district of St. James’s, renowned as the home of luxury menswear in London, the customer walks straight in to the focal point of the store: the menswear floor. Sportswear, outerwear, the main capsule collections, footwear, and leather goods and accessories combine to offer a stunning menswear range. Downstairs, the store is divided in to two sections: a luxurious boutique area for women, with glass chandeliers and ivory shelving, and the polo technical area, with its rows of leather boots and mallets.
The target-market for the store is men, aged between 25-55, who appreciate British style and tradition, have a taste for luxury brands, and a love of competitive sports and their values. The Guards Polo Club collection and the Maserati collection will be well represented, sitting in amongst the exclusive St James’s collection and a wider range of hand-picked items from La Martina’s European collections.
La Martina is present in North, Central and South America, Europe, Middle East and South East Asia with more than 70 exclusive stores, including: Buenos Aires, Palm Beach, Miami, Las Vegas, St Tropez, Milan, Lyon, Porto Cervo, Capri, Dubai, Doha, Cancun, Kuala Lumpur and Mumbai.
La Martina is proud to be the official kit supplier of some of the world’s most exclusive clubs, teams, and players, and maintains a close link to the development of talented young polo players by supporting