WORDS BY NERYS D’ESCLERCS
No exploration of Warsaw’s fashion scene is complete without a tour around Vitkac, the city’s most exclusive department store. Join PR director Anna Wronska as she shares the latest and greatest additions to the Polish store with Sara Boruc Mannei, the founder and creative director of emerging label The Mannei, in our behind-the-scenes video, then read on as Wronska explains why Vitkac is the ‘ultimate luxury experience’ (spoiler: a gaming room, a skateboard ramp and collections you can’t find anywhere else in the world have something to do with it).
Access All Areas: Vitkac In Poland, With PR Director Anna Wronska
Tell us about Vitkac in your own words.
Vitkac is the one and only luxury department store in Poland. Located in the capital city of Warsaw, we offer a wide variety of luxury, contemporary and streetwear fashion, as well as a Michelin-recommended restaurant, Concept13. We stand for the ultimate luxury experience, innovation and a tailor-made approach to each individual customer.
How does Warsaw’s fashion scene influence Vitkac and its offering?
The fashion scene in Warsaw is very varied. Slowly, we are starting to see freedom of expression, similar to Berlin’s, which also promotes more conscious pieces. Being the only luxury store in Poland, we tend to rely on a lot of tourists coming to visit us from all around the country.
What can a new client expect to experience when shopping with you, and what keeps your returning customers loyal?
Customers can visit Vitkac in the morning and leave at night. All thanks to the very high level of customer service, a cool atmosphere on each of the five floors, a gaming room and a skateboarding ramp on the third floor, a restaurant as well as a kids’ club. What our customers love most is the fact that they can find both luxury and streetwear pieces. They love to mix them up and put them together in an unobvious way. Furthermore, at Vitkac, they can find carefully selected top brands and collections that are not available anywhere else in the world. Also, from season to season they learn about new cool brands which are a number one priority for fashion lovers.
We’re seeing a renewed sense of freedom and creativity in fashion, as designers have had time to pause and reflect during lockdown. What are you excited to see this season?
We are very excited to see more colors such as The Attico’s evening range — also showing a return to sequins. We’re also keen to see the appearance of more spectacular and bold cuts. Since the pandemic, we’re also seeing a wide offering of loungewear across most brands.
Which designers feature in your edits season after season?
Some of the world’s top brands with many years of experience keep on popping up. To list a few: Burberry, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga. We also love The Attico, which delights with great fittings, colors and a variety of materials from season to season. Furthermore, it is a brand that makes you wonder what will come next — its creativity is enormous. Also, Totême is a go-to. Its offering is something that will never go out of fashion — it’s the basis of any wardrobe.
Are there any new additions to your curation this season?
We’ll be introducing quite a few new brands to Vitkac next season. Cult Gaia is a great brand that offers perfect models for summer events and beach meetings; Birgitte Herskind as a Scandinavian proposal for women’s minimalist wardrobes; Hunter with shoes and outerwear for everyone; Melissa Odabash for perfectly fitted beachwear; and Lemaire — minimalist forms in an exclusive edition.