How the New CEO of Hugo Boss Plans to Revitalize the Brand

The new chief executive of Hugo Boss said a plan to revive the struggling German fashion house by cutting brands and seeking to appeal to fashion-conscious younger customers will only bear fruit from 2018, sending its shares lower on Wednesday.
Mark Langer is returning Hugo Boss to its roots selling premium men’s clothing, reversing the course of his predecessor Claus-Dietrich Lahrs, who sought to make the label more of a luxury brand and invested heavily in womenswear.
Langer told an investor day the company will now focus on two main brands, one higher-priced premium line and another at lower prices for younger consumers, seeking to complement its smart business suits with more casual and sports outfits.“We have placed a too-strong focus on a push into luxury price points,” he said. “We have to make sure we are perceived as a lifestyle brand beyond our suiting capabilities.”
Lahrs quit in February after a severe slowdown in luxury demand led to a steep fall in Boss sales in the United States and China. Lahrs was appointed head of Kering’s Italian luxury leather goods maker Bottega Veneta in September.
Langer said 2017 will be a year of stabilization after an expected fall of up to 3 percent in currency-adjusted sales this year, predicting a return to growth in 2018. Analysts had on average forecast 1 percent growth in sales for 2017 and 2.5 percent for 2018.
Shares in Hugo Boss, which have narrowed their discount to luxury peers since Langer took over, were down 6.4 percent by 1023 GMT, making them the biggest fallers among German mid-cap stocks 
Shares in rivals LVMH and Burberry, which have rallied in the past month on signs of a recovery in mainland China, also fell.
Boss said it will continue to bring the prices of its goods in different regions in line, leading to further cuts in Asia and a slight rise in Europe, while prices should stay stable in North America.
The firm will ditch the BOSS Orange and BOSS Green labels, the former more fashion-focused and the latter inspired by sports, integrating them into its main BOSS line.
It will revamp its HUGO line aimed at a younger, more fashion-conscious customer, pricing it at roughly a third less than the BOSS brand by the time of its Spring 2018 collection.
Langer said he would seek to speed up decision making at a business he said was hurt by “organizational inertia”, including making its supply chain more agile so it can restock best-selling items within the season and adapt to short-term trends.
Earlier this month, Burberry said it is cutting 15-20 percent of its product lines to focus on its newest ranges.
Boss said that womenswear would remain an important part of the business, and is continuing its collaboration with designer Jason Wu. However, the group will only present its menswear collection at the New York fashion week next year.
Boss reiterated that it would slow down the store openings, moving more of its business to online. It also plans to lift productivity in its retail business by around 20 percent over the next few years.
(Reporting by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Victoria Bryan and Louise Heavens)
Approximate price: $22
We value our customers and so we ensure that what we do is 100% original..

With us you are guaranteed of quality work done by our qualified experts.Your information and everything that you do with us is kept completely confidential.You have to be 100% sure of the quality of your product to give a money-back guarantee. This describes us perfectly. Make sure that this guarantee is totally transparent.The Product ordered is guaranteed to be original. Orders are checked by the most advanced anti-plagiarism software in the market to assure that the Product is 100% original. The Company has a zero tolerance policy for plagiarism.The Free Revision policy is a courtesy service that the Company provides to help ensure Customer’s total satisfaction with the completed Order. To receive free revision the Company requires that the Customer provide the request within fourteen (14) days from the first completion date and within a period of thirty (30) days for dissertations.The Company is committed to protect the privacy of the Customer and it will never resell or share any of Customer’s personal information, including credit card data, with any third party. All the online transactions are processed through the secure and reliable online payment systems.By placing an order with us, you agree to the service we provide. We will endear to do all that it takes to deliver a comprehensive paper as per your requirements. We also count on your cooperation to ensure that we deliver on this mandate.