Misako, the Barcelona brand specialized in bags, accessories and travel items, faced the difficulties of the pandemic in the retail sector by completely transforming the identity of the firm.

This is the first renovation of the company based in the Catalan capital since 1998, and it aims to offer a more modern, intimate and Mediterranean touch to its products.

Now, after five months since the launch of its new products and the adaptation of its stores to the new Misako concept, the company has exceeded, during the month of September, the turnover levels of the same month in the year 2019, before the outbreak of the pandemic.

Misako's Press Day in which novelties have been presented / METRÓPOLI

MISAKO GANG

The brand's new collection, called Misako Gang, aims to recover the brand's "younger, rebellious and daring" values. In this sense, Carla Valls, Misako's communication director, assures that what they want to sell is a "young spirit".

"We don't want to lose our usual clientele, but we want to add a new public that is looking for products more focused on an innovative mentality and adapted to today's trends," Valls explains to Metrópoli.

RELEASE THE BRAND

Another of the most important points of the new collection is the concept of liberation of the brand. To enter this new adventure, the retail company changed the brand's logo, traditionally known for presenting the name in three closed squares. Now, "the name is out of the boxes and is released," says Valls.

With this "liberation", Misako's name as a brand has also gained value. For this reason, one of the new lines that it has launched for this fall is Monogram. Their bags are designed with the first monogram of the firm "highlighting the identity" of it.

Exterior of a renovated store in Misako according to the new brand identity / CEDIDA

SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability is also another of the values ​​of Misako's new image. For this reason, the Green Gang line of bags – which will be launched in November 2021 – will be made only with recycled and eco-friendly materials.

Within Green Gang they recently opted for sustainable clothing and Misako launched her first clothing line. It is a capsule collection of t-shirts made with organic cotton. In the coming months, they will also sell sweatshirts, without forgetting that "the main focus of the brand is bags and accessories" – from suitcases to jewelry and scarves.

PHYSICAL STORES

Despite the importance of online commerce, Valls assures that physical stores continue to be a pillar for the marketing of their products. "A future without stores is unimaginable," she says.

In addition, for the brand's communication director, it is an ideal time to "revalue" physical stores because "people really want to go out and get back to normality." In this context, Misako opened ten stores in 2020 and plans to add ten more to the five that it has already opened this year.

New bags from Misako / MISAKO

BARCELONA ESSENCE

To "reflect its origins" –a very important factor for the brand–, Misako wanted to reverberate the Mediterranean essence of Barcelona in its stores.

In the Catalan capital they have a total of 11 stores, among which the most recent opening in l'Illa Diagonal stands out, one of the bets that the brand made in Spanish territory after the pandemic.