How to build a luxury outerwear business

Ten years after Moncler’s initial public offering on the Milan Stock Exchange, outerwear remains one of the most popular categories in luxury.

While many brands have seen sales growth stagnate or even turn negative in recent months, Moncler, the sector’s largest listed company (which also owns Stone Island), has recorded sales growth in the first nine months of the year excluding currency fluctuations. It reported a 17% increase in sales. . The company’s current value is 15.4 billion euros ($17 billion), more than its century-old rival Prada.

Some small and medium-sized enterprises are also surviving the economic downturn. French brand Yves Salomon announced that its sales in 2023 increased by around 15% to more than 50 million euros. Skiwear specialist Fusalp also surpassed the 50 million euro mark in the last financial year, and says it expects sales to reach 67 million euros in the 12 months to May next year, an increase of around 20%.

Some companies reported nearly flat sales this year after a post-pandemic surge. But brands such as Italian outerwear group CP Company say they are taking advantage of the economic downturn to rebuild distribution networks and reinvent processes. CP announced that it has hired 40 new staff at its head office to strengthen its operations as sales increased from 8 million euros in 2015 to 120 million euros last year.

What is driving the rise of luxury outerwear?

Investors have long been attracted to the potential higher returns offered by luxury coat manufacturers. Profitability for these companies is often driven by collections that feature a high share of timeless carryover styles and limit markdowns, with many customers seeing a nice coat as a reasonable luxury or necessary investment. Even considering this, it enjoys low price resistance. They need to keep you warm, and even the more expensive models tend to have an attractive cost per wear.

These economic advantages are now further enhanced by many other trends that are elevating the outerwear category. BoF asked Fusalp, Yves Salomon, executives from CP Company, Mackage and Selfridges to identify the key forces and strategies shaping the sector.

focus on skiing

While sporty ‘gorpcore’ brands have dominated the skiwear space for years, we’re looking for a more appealing proposition that combines the technical performance you need on the slopes with après-ski (and Instagram) appeal. Demand is rapidly increasing.

Selfridges fashion director Bosse Mia said Fusalp, Perfect Moment and Goldberg are among the brands whose more feminine, form-fitting, high-fashion ski wear is contributing to sales growth. It is said that

These brands are leveraging the social media appeal of mountains. For example, Fusalp, who rose to fame designing uniforms for French Olympic athletes during his ski boom of the 1960s and 1970s, hosted and supported luxury influencer outings in his French Alps. Masu. Raise awareness of that heritage. The company is currently implementing a marketing program in Colorado and recently opened boutiques in Aspen and Vail. A special event for influencers and top clients is scheduled for early this year at Aspen’s Caribou Club, followed by a ski day and dance party at the glittering Mountain Chalet.

Colorful collaborations with the likes of Pucci (a vibrant resort brand that relies on Fusalp to help diversify away from the beach) and Harry Nuriev’s Crosby Studio have enhanced the brand’s glamorous, fashion-ski image. .

Other players are also turning to skiing. Since Carine Roitfeld helped launch luxury giant Chanel’s first skiwear line, Coconage, in 2018, several brands have joined in, including Prada (which revamped its sporty Linea Rossa line in the same year). This was followed. , Armani (which celebrated its new ‘Neve’ line at St. Moritz last month), Balenciaga and Balmain.

lean towards retail industry

In addition to its new location at the ski resort, Fusalp will open flagship stores in Rue George V in Paris and Avenue Madison in New York, and will receive investment from Chanel heir David Wertheimer’s Mirabeau Partners in 2022. As a result, the company is looking to expand its retail share in the business. .

That’s not all. The shift to retail is a top priority for outerwear investors, who are betting on the distribution management strategies of handbag giants like Louis Vuitton as a way to increase profit margins and gain tighter control over inventory and brand image. Masu. The most notable proof of concept remains Moncler, whose retail strategy has boosted its EBIT margin to 34 percent, second only to Hermès among publicly traded luxury goods companies.

Canadian outerwear brand Mackage has opened a flagship store on Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris and a boutique on the Alpine ski slopes of Megève to complement its network of approximately 12 retail stores in Canada and the United States.

“My dream scenario would be to have a 60-40 mix of in-house retail and wholesale,” said Tanya Gorecik, Mackage’s chief executive officer. In addition to controlling price, presentation and markdowns, the stores also give coat manufacturers the opportunity to cross-sell into other categories, Gorecik said. “It has become important to dress our clients and provide them with layering items and shoes that recreate their complete look.”

CP Company, part of Hong Kong’s Tri-State Holdings, is also expanding its retail operations, with a flagship store in Paris’ Marais district under construction this summer and openings in Manchester, Cannes and Lyon in 2023.

The rise of tailoring

Another driver driving luxury outerwear sales beyond technical items is customers’ growing desire for tailored style. Remember Gwyneth Paltrow’s elegant felt coat during her viral court appearance last spring?

This trend, and the broader ‘quiet luxury’ discourse surrounding it, has been a boon for women’s coat makers such as Italy’s Max Mara and France’s Yves Salomon, while Tom Ford and Loro Piana have Mir says he has had success marketing seed styles to men. Said.

Salomon, a prominent fur trader who still produces fur as a supplier to brands such as Dior, said the success of its tailored coats was the result of years of efforts to diversify the production capacity of its workshops. ing. As fur became more controversial and a niche interest, his brand sought to complete its proposition with more shearling and wool items, creating close-fitting, ladylike tailored styles. We have also added ready-to-wear and knitwear. Luxurious manufacturing meets a competitive price range (as a luxury item), with some cashmere coats and leather trenches costing less than 2,000 euros.

“I have always had a passion for production, for complete control of the chain,” said founder Salomon. “This allows us to take sustainability and animal welfare seriously, while also suggesting a quality-to-price ratio that we think is right for the consumer.”

Fusion of identity and technology

Owned by CP Company and Moncler, Stone Island, both founded by Italian sportswear entrepreneur Massimo Osti, have long been popular with niche consumer groups who adopt their logos to project a sporty, street-smart identity. I have been appealing for a while.

But while logo-focused identity shoppers tend to come and go, brands’ technical knowledge is what gives them staying power. A luxury coat is a complex piece made up of hundreds of components. Creating an innovative and novel animation line requires a different kind of expertise.

“Luxury coats have been popular as something that helps you identify and define yourself in social spaces,” explained Lorenzo Osti, CEO of CP Company. And while demand for more technical, high-end coats is holding up amid luxury brand fatigue and a broader economic downturn, “entry-level items like fleeces and beanies are more expensive than buying your own brand.” It’s being bought by people who want to show it off,” Osti said. Brands…this kind of consumption is cooling down. ”

CP Company strives to project technology and innovation in a different way than its former sister brand Stone Island, focusing on new textiles and innovations rather than emphasizing expertise such as garment dyeing, distressing and tonal effects. The focus is on experimenting with textures. Island has long “owned” the brand space.

Other labels whose fortunes have been raised by a combination of technical prowess and brand influence include The North Face, whose recent collaboration with Japanese brand Undercover was a sold-out success, and whose parent company was valued at $10 billion. Examples include Arc’teryx, which has filed for an IPO in the United States with the goal of Selfridges’ Meyer said in September: “They really get fashion and function right.”