By Laura McGuire
Hugo Boss has raised its full year outlook following a 20 per cent increase in second quarter sales, after smart advertising campaigns featuring Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner.
The German fashion house, best known for its men’s colognes, reported a 21 per cent increase in EBIT to €121m (£103m), as plans to rebrand the designer begin to pay off.
A rethink of Hugo Boss was launched just shy of two years ago by chief Daniel Greider, shifting its Boss brand to be targeted at millennials and its Hugo brand towards Gen Z.
Greider, who served as head of Tommy Hilfiger for over 20 years, joined as head of the brand in 2021, telling Vogue Business last December he wants to double the company’s sales to €4bn (£3bn) by 2025.
China’s recovery post-pandemic also helped deliver a strong quarter, with currency adjusted revenues in the region up by 56 per cent year-over-year.
Customers were also drawn in by its spring and summer campaign with featured supermodels Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner.
Hugo Boss now expects sales in fiscal year 2023 to increase between 12 per cent and 15 per cent to a new record level of between €4.1bn (£3.52bn) and €4.2bn (£3.61bn)
“After our highly dynamic start to the year, we continued our strong performance also in the second quarter. Momentum once again exceeded our own high expectations, despite the overall challenging and uncertain market environment” Grieder said.
“Following our strategy update in June, both brands Boss and Hugo successfully maintained their growth trajectory. We will make 2023 a new record year for Hugo Boss, thus providing a robust foundation for achieving our updated 2025 financial ambition.”
