Hugo Boss China proves best dressed

With second-quarter sales rising by 14 per cent, Hugo Boss China has shined for German luxury fashion house.

With double-digit sales growth on a like-for-like basis, the Chinese mainland continued to perform significantly better than Hong Kong and Macau, says the company. Sales were also up in Japan.

In Asia, sales grew by 12 per cent in local currencies to ¥90 million (US$800,000).

It was Asia/Pacific’s growth that mainly contributed to overall Hugo Boss sales increasing by 3 per cent for the quarter on a comparative store and currency-adjusted basis.

Sales in freestanding stores and shops-in-shops were 2 and 7 per cent respectively above the previous year’s figures on a currency-adjusted basis. Outlet sales rose by 10 per cent, while online business increased by 9 per cent.

Despite higher marketing expenses and spending on digital transformation, operating profit was steady.

At its Investor Day at its head office in Metzingen yesterday, the company announced the implementation of its two-brand strategy, Boss and Hugo. Previously independently managed, the Boss Orange and Boss Green lines have been integrated into the Boss core brand, with the first parts of the new collections going into stores from the end of this year.

Hugo Boss says it is widening its commercially important entry-level price ranges, continuing to expand its omnichannel services and systematically investing in sales staff training and development. It will also start a step-by-step roll-out of new store concepts for Boss and Hugo.

In the first half of the year, the group’s store numbers fell by four to 438. As at June 30, five of the 20 store closures agreed upon last year had been completed.

Its store network in Asia/Pacific was reduced by one. There were five new openings in Korea and Singapore plus six closures in various markets.

“Our strategic realignment is beginning to take effect with business in the second quarter encouraging,” says CEO Mark Langer, who noted “considerable headway” in its online business. “We are facing the future with confidence.”