Prolific home-grown fashion house Adolfo Domínguez extends global network

TOP-END high-street fashion chain Adolfo Domínguez is expanding its empire outside of its home country after reporting a rise in sales abroad of nearly 30% in spring.

Between August and September, the company has so far opened eight international stores in as many weeks.

With one each in Portugal, Austria, Chile and Japan, and two in Australia and México, the brand has long been aiming to hit every continent – it already has an accessories shop in Manchester, UK, and stores in central London, among other major cities worldwide.

Japan is where Adolfo Domínguez's main presence outside of Spain is found – in fact, the brand has been something of a trailblazer for Spanish fashion in the east Asian country – accounting for the company's second-highest turnover outside national territory, after México.

With three branches opening between April and August in the Japanese cities of Kisarazu, Kitakyushuy and Okayama, Adolfo Domínguez now has 19 shops in the country.

Stores in Spain in the past five years have been tending to close rather than open, but some are set to be restored imminently: One of these is in Fuencarral, Madrid, with a brand-new design of premises.

It will be joined by a flagship megastore at number 40 of Madrid's C/ Serrano, one of the capital's main shopping streets, and which will open for business in October.

A new strategy in September 2021 has seen a move towards natural fibres and working with local, traditional craftspeople from within the far north-western province of Ourense, where the designer was born and where he and his family still live.

This 'local trade' flair will even be present in the building design when the central-Madrid store opens: Interior and exterior décor will include elements of natural slate, a typical material seen in the capital region's so-called 'pueblos negros' or 'black villages', which earned this name from the colour of their architecture, as well as hand-made potter's clay and bespoke handicrafts.

Fashion 'pioneer': Tailor's son, family brand and international stores and deliveries

Started up by the designer of the same name in his home studio in Ourense, Galicia, in 1970 – when he was just 20 years old and having spent his entire childhood in his parents' tailors' workshop – the colourful, classy label remains an entirely family-run business: Adolfo and his wife Elena are on the board of directors, and their three daughters are part of the management, as well as being digital officers and creative directors.

Its AD Mujer collection, for women, was released in 1980, and the cheaper, young fashions range, U, came in 2003.

Spain's first-ever fashion house to float on the stock market, in 1997, the chain had gone international three years earlier after opening its first shop beyond national borders, in Portugal; already, though, Adolfo Domínguez clothing was well known outside Spain, since lead actors and actresses from Miami Vice had used them as on-screen costumes.

Adolfo Domínguez was also the first Spanish fashion designer to launch a perfume collection in the firm's own name, back in the 1990s.

A huge hit with a young public, the company collaborated with the top 40 music chart radio station, Los 40 Principales, to design what was expected to be a one-off range inspired by the outfits worn by the most popular bands and artists of the time – The Music Collection by U de Adolfo Domínguez was launched in 2009, still with prices at the upper extreme of the high street, but somewhat lower than the main clothing ranges aimed at those seeking a more classical, serious but still-colourful look.

Limited in number of items, The Music Collection flew off the shelves, and has since become a permanent fixture of the brand.

Wedding dresses, interiors, childrenswear, jewellery, and even accessories for pets as well as humans have followed this century.

Adolfo Domínguez, as a fashion house, also designed one series of uniforms for Iberia's airline cabin crew and airport ground staff.

Currently with a presence in 22 countries, about 54% of Adolfo Domínguez's network of stores is outside of Spain, although its shops can be found in most of the nation's largest cities and a few big towns and shopping centres.

Among its 400-plus points of sale, the brand has concessions in major department stores, including Spain's largest and best-known, El Corte Inglés.

Adolfo Domínguez also operates an online store, with a free 'click-and-collect' service to its national stores, home deliveries for €5 or free for orders of €50 or more, and deliveries to addresses in most of Europe and to the USA.