Italian retailer Modes has appointed Simon Whitehouse chief executive. Whitehouse, who previously led communications firm Reference Studios and JW Anderson, will take the reins from Aldo Carpinteri, who founded the retailer, then called Stefania Mode, in Trapani, Sicily in 1971.

Modes plans to open its first boutique in London later this year, adding to more than 20 stores across Europe, in glitzy resort towns in Italy, France and Switzerland, as well as Paris and Milan.

With the new store, set to open on Conduit Street in Mayfair, “Modes will be in a unique position, being able to offer visibility and community in the European fashion capitals of Milan, Paris and London,” said Whitehouse. “No multi-brand concept store has ever done that.”

The move comes in a brutal environment for multi-brand luxury retailers, as aspirational customers pull back on spending and key brands reduce their wholesale distribution, though Modes’ exposure to wealthy shoppers in destinations like St Moritz, Porto Cervo, Portofino, Gstaad and Forte dei Marmi, may provide it with a degree of insulation.

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