Umit Benan returned to Via Bigli with more than just a new address: Spring 2026 marks a pivotal moment for the brand, with the opening of its flagship store and the full-scale debut of womenswear. “It’s destiny,” Benan said with a smile. “I had my first home here in 2005. In 2010 I presented a project with Nino Cerruti in this very same building.” Now supported by D Capital and having welcomed his newborn son just days before the launch, the designer has come full circle, personally and professionally.
Regarding the new womenswear, “we want it to travel on its own,” Benan said. “It’s not about the wife of our man, but a woman with her own character.” Benan found inspiration in a surfer living in Biarritz—an athlete and muse behind the new women’s pieces. “I documented her life for months,” he said, Her easygoing lifestyle shaped the silhouettes: silk robes, fluid pants, terry cloth sets, bathing suits, and nylon raincoats. The result read like a cinematic take on island living: “Think Point Break,” Benan added.
Menswear evolved in parallel, with added focus on fits inspired by the women’s line and Japanese denim. “I wanted our jeans to feel more like Kevin Costner in Yellowstone than runway,” said Benan. Still, proportions retained a precise tension: cropped jackets, elastic-free piqué knits in treated silk, and anthracite gray as the grounding hue tying together both men’s and women’s offerings. Resortwear also expanded with “Paradiso,” a new capsule of year-round pieces in faded tones: banana yellow, powder pink, baby blue. “Paradiso is where I lived in Lugano. It’s also my favorite word in Italian,” Benan said, revealing the tattoo etched on his arm.
The newly opened store, just a few steps from the showroom, mirrors this intersection of memory and design. Conceived with architect Martin Brûlé, the space draws from Benan’s childhood visits to his mother’s multi-brand shop in Istanbul and his father’s fabric-scouting trips. “It had to feel lived-in,” the designer said. “We even serve cocktails and caviar.” Mahogany wood, sand-toned carpets, and artworks curated by gallerist Thaddaeus Ropac (a friend and client) infuse the space with the same layered identity as the clothes. “What you see here is everything I absorbed between the ages of eight and 13,” Benan said. “It’s my first real memory of fashion.”