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.
Allbirds on Tuesday reported a smaller-than-expected revenue dip in the second quarter. The company’s sales fell 10 percent year over year to $71 million.
The embattled sneaker seller, whose sales suffered after customers didn’t latch onto new product categories like apparel and performance shoes, was expecting revenue to drop as much as 18 percent.
The company improved its bottom line after slashing its digital advertising spend by 21 percent year over year. It posted a $18 million loss on its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation, down from $21 million a year earlier.
Allbirds’ stock, which has fallen more than percent since its IPO debut, was up more than 9 percent in after-hours trading.
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The DTC bust of the past two years has casted a cloud on the sector, but emerging fashion brands with a better handle on supply, demand and customer retention are seeing profitable growth.
In London, where independent labels have been hit hard by the implosion of key stockist Matches, brands like Clio Peppiatt, Marfa Stance and Completedworks have grown direct-to-consumer businesses that peers can learn from.
Apparel start-ups founded on the promise of offering men the perfect T-shirt are proving resilient in an otherwise dreary DTC sector rampant with fire sales, bankruptcies and steep revenue declines.
Apparel brands Knot Standard and Billy Reid are teaming up in a move investors say we may see more of as fashion start-ups seek alternative funding routes to grow their businesses.