The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
China’s go-to maker of down outerwear, Bosideng, released its financial results for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2021, which showed its revenue up 10.9 percent year-on-year to 13.52 billion yuan ($2.09 billion) and net profit up 42.1 percent to 1.71 billion yuan ($264.87 million).
The company’s chief financial officer and vice president, Zhu Gaofeng, said the significant profit increase was mainly due to effective cost control and higher sales of mid-to-high-priced products, as well as optimisation of its retail network.
The brand has been focusing on improving its pricing and brand positioning in recent years, and has collaborated with designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier to convert higher-end consumers. Last year, Bosideng also trimmed its physical retail network substantially, decreasing its total points of sale by 716 to 4,150.
With consumers tightening their belts in China, the battle between global fast fashion brands and local high street giants has intensified.
Investors are bracing for a steep slowdown in luxury sales when luxury companies report their first quarter results, reflecting lacklustre Chinese demand.
The French beauty giant’s two latest deals are part of a wider M&A push by global players to capture a larger slice of the China market, targeting buzzy high-end brands that offer products with distinctive Chinese elements.
Post-Covid spend by US tourists in Europe has surged past 2019 levels. Chinese travellers, by contrast, have largely favoured domestic and regional destinations like Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.