Hugo Boss returns to pre-Covid levels

“2021 was a highly successful year for Hugo Boss“, CEO Daniel Grieder said. In the fourth quarter, the German fashion label’s turnover grew by 51 %, proving to the company that its renewal strategy is catching on.

New strategy launched

During the fourth quarter of last year, fashion label Hugo Boss’ turnover grew by 51 % compared to a year earlier as may stores were allowed to reopen after the Covid pandemic. Still, even compared to the pre-Covid year 2019, sales were 12 % higher. Consumers were reassured and bought themselves new outfits for the holidays: Europe and the Americas performed particularly strongly.

Hugo Boss also took important steps in rolling out its ‘Claim 5’ growth strategy in 2021. The German fashion house is going for a fresh in-store look and more youthful clothing. It also aims to become a “leading premium tech-driven fashion platform“. Online accounted for 20 % of all sales in the fourth quarter.

Hardly any difference from 2019

For the full year, the fashion house expects a turnover of 2.79 billion euros, an increase of 43 % compared to 2020. Compared to 2019, this is only 1 % less. The company thus exceeded its own target. However, profits are still lagging somewhat: as sales improved, profits also started recovering during the year. Of the expected EBIT of 228 million euros, almost half will come from the fourth quarter.

Hugo Boss is set to roll out a new corporate identity in the upcoming weeks, but consumers can also expect the launch of the biggest Boss and Hugo marketing campaigns in the company’s history, FashionUnited reports. At the same time, the group is bringing its production closer to home to be less susceptible to disruptions in the global supply chain. In particular, the company is investing heavily in additional workers and production capacity in Turkey.