MILAN — Retori is making its retail debut in the Middle East, embracing the omnichannel route by linking with the region’s luxury e-tailer Ounass.
Marking the launch of the brand’s sophomore collection, titled Chapter 02, on the retailer’s e-commerce site, Retori is also taking over Ounass Maison, a physical shopping suite located at Dubai’s Mandarin Oriental Jumeira.
Retori was founded in 2024 by creative director Salma Rachid and is centered on dialogues with a diverse community of artists that each season inform its collections. For the Chapter 02 womenswear and menswear ranges, the brand conscripted Dutch-Indonesian artist Miko Veldkamp.
In keeping with its arty narrative and storytelling-driven proposition, Retori’s weeklong takeover of Ounass Maison comes with a roster of cultural activations until Wednesday, including a private dinner with a performance by songwriter Lauren Claire Townley; shopping sessions curated by the brand and the e-tailer and flanked by graphology sessions, as well as a conversation with Veldkamp moderated by art specialist and curator Hala Khayat.
“Retori was born out of a dialogue between cultures and identities, art expressions and the universal resonance of the journey of life. Ounass shares our vision of conscious luxury, craftsmanship and authenticity, where beauty resonates through emotion as much as through form,” Rachid said.
The Chapter 02 fall 2025 collection was first unveiled last July during Paris Couture Week, weeks ahead of its arrival in select global boutiques and on the brand’s official website. The strategy was aimed at strengthening the brand’s relationship with its customers, as chief executive officer Zaccheo Manzoni told WWD at the time.
The Ounass omnichannel move reflects the same approach.
“Retori’s collaboration with Ounass is not only an important business milestone but a true cultural convergence, rooted in our shared vision of excellence and discreet sophistication. Ounass Maison allows us to meet our audience in a region that deeply understands the emotional dimension of luxury. Dubai’s cultural milieu echoes our brand’s vision to connect creation, identity and intimacy,” Manzoni offered.
The Chapter 02 lineup includes wrap coats in twin layers of double-faced wool; reversible jackets with one side plain, the other patterned, and crinkled unisex trenchcoats that pack up neatly into a travel pouch, printed with a bicycle pattern drawn from Veldkamp’s art, among other key items.
Retori presented its debut collection in September 2024 during Milan Fashion Week, which was picked up by around a dozen outlets worldwide, including a pop-up at Harrods in London; Istanbul department store Beymen; Takashimaya in Tokyo; Stanley Korshak in Dallas, and the Al Duca d’Aosta boutique in Venice.
The Retori Chapter 02 ad campaign.
Courtesy of Retori
The brand was launched last year by Alsara Investment Group, the luxury group established in 2017 which includes fashion and outerwear brand Khrisjoy; design venture Fromm; eyewear company Akoni, now called AKN Group; investor Bidayat; Egypt-based jewelry brand Azza Fahmy; accessories label Okhtein, and Flyroom. The group is also reviving the label of Walter Albini, one of the founders of Italy’s ready-to-wear.
As reported, the investment firm is also among a pool of investors which acquired luxury Italian furniture firm Giorgetti Group alongside asset management firm Solida Capital and Vivium from Italian private equity group Progressio SGR, which had run the group since 2015.
