MILAN — A new, atypical and fashion-driven members’ club is bowing in Milan. It’s the first flagship and tailor workshop of the Umit Benan label.

In one of the first major, and visible, developments since last year’s acquisition of a majority stake by D Capital, the if-you-know-you-know brand is opening its first boutique at Via Bigli 6. D Capital is a boutique investment firm helmed by Davide De Giglio, the cofounder of New Guards Group, who exited the latter company in June 2023, four years after the business was sold to Farfetch.

Located a stone’s throw from the much busier Via Montenapoleone and Milan’s Golden Triangle luxury shopping district, the store captures the ethos of the brand.

“Even if someone had offered me a store on Via Montenapoleone, I’d have said no. It’s too touristy,” Benan said in a lengthy interview at his Milanese house and atelier.

“This is such a sophisticated product that you want people to go those two extra steps. You don’t want random foot traffic…you want them to turn the corner, take a few more steps to get there,” the designer said.

Further telegraphing that message is the store’s only entrance, located off the main street and inside the palazzo’s courtyard. Benan has even had the front access closed.

“Via Bigli makes me feel at home,” the Turkish designer said, adding he lived there when he arrived in Milan 20 years ago.

The familial feeling extends to the store’s blueprint, developed in partnership with Martin Brulè, a Canadian residential architect working between New York City and Paris, who lacked experience in retail.

“My idea was always to make it feel like home,” he said.

Described as a “retail parlor,” the boutique, spanning 2,152 square feet across two floors, looks like a sophisticated members’ club space, with three street-facing windows displaying art rather than fashion.

Decked in warm tones of sand and dark brown, with touches of black, it is juxtaposed with sophisticated neutral carpeting, polished mahogany furniture, plastered ivory panels, brushed steel counters and polished racks, as well as mirrors. Appealing light fixtures are retro-industrial, vintage-looking pieces by design firm The Back Studio at Matta.

The ground floor, comprising two adjacent rooms, is dedicated to the ready-to-wear and accessories offering, while the basement is conceived as a tailor’s workshop dedicated to the made-to-measure and made-to-order services. It boasts a fitting room big enough to accommodate a bed and a bar counter.

Art is scattered throughout, selected by Austrian gallerist and Benan’s friend Thaddaeus Ropac, who picked sculptures by Erwin Wurm for the windows and Not Vital artworks to hang on walls throughout the boutique.

Benan said the store concept reflects both Brulè’s and his taste, the latter shaped by memories of places he has visited over time.

“My job was to blend a bit of Martin, a bit of modern, a bit of my memories,” he said.

No less chic than his home atelier in Southern Milan, the store echoes Benan’s approach to luxury.

“The concept behind the store this time is not as personal as in the past, it’s much more client driven. At the moment, our deeper goal, or at least my goal, is service,” he explained.

“Come, have a coffee, hang around, browse… that’s how I build client relationships, with a long-term mindset. Once I make them feel at home, I guarantee we’ll do good numbers,” he said.

The retail debut also sets a clear strategy for the brand.

“From Day One, our retail strategy has been considered fundamental,” De Giglio said. “Umit Benan is not just a product, it’s a philosophy, and the only way to fully convey that philosophy is through the retail experience. Our stores are not simply points of sale, but immersive environments where the brand can express its identity, values and vision,” he said.

After pausing his conceptual menswear label in 2019, Benan resurfaced, quietly, with B+, a new line built on luxurious menswear conveying an attitude, which was eventually rebranded under the Umit Benan moniker with the D Capital acquisition, the fund’s first in the fashion space.  

Both De Giglio and Benan characterize the retail debut as a milestone, but they are not giving up on wholesale.

“Wholesale remains an important part of our distribution strategy, but we are now being more selective, working only with strategic partners in each key geography,” De Giglio said. “What has changed is the pace at which we’re accelerating our own retail rollout, especially outside of Italy,” he said, without getting into additional details of upcoming store openings elsewhere.

Benan said the brand is aiming to secure about 20 to 25 stockists for spring 2026, building on the existing network which includes, among others, Bergdorf Goodman, Beymen, Harvey Nichols Dubai, Antonia and Mr Porter.

The brand is also relocating its headquarters from Benan’s studio to Via Bigli 11, a stone’s throw from the boutique, with a grand opening planned for September during Milan Fashion Week.

The designer is taking part in Milan Men’s Fashion Week with a daylong event on Friday that is part boutique opening and part presentation of the spring 2026 collection, rooted in fluidity and charm and built on his fixation for rebooting ’80s silhouettes.

“I don’t call myself a tailor. I have tailoring ability, sure, but I’m not a tailor. I’m a designer. It’s that mix [of] tailoring with style… I try to work with a tailor’s mindset, but a designer’s vision,” he said.