Esprit says goodbye to profits and to creative duo

“Job has been done”

The artistic director and the brand director,
who were brought into the company in 2010 to revitalise the clothing brand, are
leaving to start a business as consultants. Fashionmag.com says Esprit will not
be replacing the duo.

According to a spokesperson of the European
headquarters of Esprit, the reason for their departure is simple: “the job has
been done”. The duo outlined a future proof Esprit through collections,
campaigns and concept stores; now the brand can focus on implementing their
ideas for the reposition of the brand.

First loss since 1993

Almost simultaneously with the departure of
Nord and Andersson, the company is showing a loss for the first time since
1993. In the first half of the financial year 2012-2013 the net result came down to a loss of
465 million Hong Kong dollar or 46 million euro below zero. In the same period
of the last financial year there had been a profit of 555 million Hong Kong dollar.

Sales also dropped by no less than 13.4% to
13.554 billion dollar or 1.3 billion euro. Even when closed shops are not taken into
account, sales would still drop by 8.8%. In Europe, still the most important
market for Esprit, the drop in sales came to 9.1%, in Asia sales diminished by
7.2%.

The drop comes as no surprise:
Esprit is currently working on a reorganisation plan, which will span four years. As a part of that project, the chain decided to bid the North American market farewell.

New boss has to cut costs

To turn the tide, Esprit brought in Jose Manuel
Martínez Guttiérrez from Spanish Inditex. He wants to reposition the chainfocussing on better value for money and a better experience in the shops.
Meanwhile Esprit announced some serious cuts to improve its financial
performance.

To finance its plans, Esprit recently issued new
shares worth 500 million euro. Interested
investors could sign in at a discount of 36% on new stocks.