Italian accessories company Furla will mark its 80th anniversary this year with an exhibition at Tokyo's Museum of Contemporary Art, overseen by the company's head, Giovanna Furlanetto. The company is planning to double its sales and directly own 56 boutiques in the next four years.

Come autumn, Furla will begin its Retail Design Hub program, under which it will start selling items created exclusively for the brand by two designers to be selected by a jury panel that includes Vogue Italia's Franca Sozzani, Vogue's André Leon Tally and Julie Gilhart, senior vice president and fashion director at Barneys New York. The names of the designers will be revealed in September and the products will be presented during Milan Fashion Week that month.

There is no set length for the collaborations, nor is there a set number of designers eventually to be selected under the program. "We wanted a fresh, international take on our products and we, in turn, offer these designers an incredible visibility network," said Furlanetto, adding she was working on a concept for the 15 to 20 stores that will carry these products. The retail concept will allow the collections to stand out and differentiate each store.

Furla's ongoing focus on retailing is proving lucrative, as the company has been reporting a 23 percent increase in the number of customers in its stores each season for the past four seasons. Furla has 225 stores worldwide. "We are proud of being in the best locations in the world, from Bond Street in London and Madison Avenue in New York to Ginza in Tokyo, where we even have a cafe in the store, " said Furlanetto.

Retail expansion this year includes the opening of two stores in India and one in São Paolo, Brazil. This year, retail sales are expected to reach around 360 million euros, or $485.1 million.

The executive said Yuko Hasegawa, curator of MOT, invited Furla to be a part of Tokyo's design week, called "Space for Your Future," in October. Four artists awarded with the Furla per l'Arte prize, a project Furlanetto initiated in 1999 to promote emerging artists, will show at MOT. "They are the only four Italians, in the company of such artists as Rei Kawabuko, Hussein Chalayan and Pipilotti Rist," said Furlanetto.