VROOMING AROUND: Vespa is doubling down on its lifestyle project introduced last June by kicking off retail initiatives worldwide.
The brand is unveiling a range of pop-ups dedicated to the second chapter of its lifestyle project in key locations throughout the first quarter of 2025.
The first of such activations bowed this week at Paris’ Galeries Lafayette Champs-Élysées department store.
Decked in icy tones to recreate a mountaintop landscape with a futuristic bent, the pop-ups mark the retail debut of the Vespa Snake capsule collection created to celebrate the Year of the Snake, according to the Lunar Calendar.
The collection comprises the new limited-edition Vespa 946 Snake scooter launched this month, which features a shimmering white design inspired by snowy landscapes and snake-shaped decorations on the fenders and under the saddle, as well as a matching wardrobe.
The latter comprises enveloping long puffer coats and patch-bearing bomber jackets, as well as tracksuits, denim pants and knits done in variations of white, from iridescent and pearly to optical and buttery.
The Vespa 946 Snake scooter and a look from the Vespa Snake capsule collection.
Courtesy of Vespa
The Paris pop-up remains open through Feb. 5. A day before, Vespa will inaugurate the same concept at Milan’s Rinascente.
The roving pop-up format will then travel to Steffl in Vienna; Galeries Lafayette in Beijing; Vakko in Istanbul; Emquartier in Bangkok; Paragon in Singapore; Trang Tien Hanoi, Vietnam, as well as Plaza Indonesia, in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Vespa pop-up at Paris’ Galeries Lafayette.
Courtesy of Vespa
As reported, parent company Piaggio Group last year banked on Vespa being “not only a mobility brand but a lifestyle one,” as Davide Zanolini, executive vice president of marketing and communication of Piaggio Group, told WWD in June. Vespa was catapulted to global fame by Audrey Hepburn riding on the back of Gregory Peck’s scooter in the 1953 iconic movie “Roman Holiday.”
The lifestyle push incidentally coincided with the launch of the brand’s seminal fashion collection, for which Vespa recruited an experienced team of designers, but Zanolini described it as a platform for experimentation across different fields.
Before venturing into fashion directly, Vespa had orchestrated collaborations in the space previously, linking up with Emporio Armani in 2016; sneaker guru Sean Wotherspoon in 2020, and Dior in 2021.