Strategy

To increase the relevance and perception of our brands, we pursue a two-brand strategy. In 2022, we comprehensively renewed the brand images of BOSS and HUGO as part of our branding refresh. With a bolder, younger, and more emotional appearance, momentum for BOSS and HUGO increased noticeably, leading to strong growth rates in recent years. Building on this regained brand strength, we will continue to deepen our connection with consumers as we focus on sustained engagement and customer loyalty.

To activate and engage with consumers across all touchpoints, we remain committed to investing in marketing and brand-building activities. Following a clear digital-first approach, our marketing strategy is centered around 360-degree brand campaigns, inspiring collaborations, unique brand events, and exciting storytelling around our products. Since the introduction of “CLAIM 5,” we have been investing between 7% and 8% of Group sales annually in marketing. Overall, our numerous marketing initiatives resulted in a strong global buzz on social media and beyond, while also supporting our top-line development.

Our products are at the very heart of all our business activities. As part of “CLAIM 5,“ we successfully developed BOSS and HUGO into true 24/7 lifestyle brands, ensuring that our customers are perfectly dressed for every occasion. To further increase the relevance of both our brands, we complement our main collections with various capsule collections and high-impact collaborations. At all times, we are committed to maintaining our superior price-value proposition. By ensuring premium quality and a high level of innovation and sustainability, we aim to further strengthen the positioning of BOSS and HUGO in the premium and affordable luxury segments of the global fashion market.

Fully in line with both brands’ 24/7 lifestyle images, we are committed to leveraging our growth potential across all wearing occasions. Exploiting the full potential of casualwear – accounting for around 50% of Group sales – remains a key focus, while we continue to blur lines between casualwear and formalwear. In this context, HUGO BOSS has been able to seamlessly close the gap between tailoring and sportswear in recent years. At the same time, we keep strengthening our formalwear business – accounting for around 25% of Group sales – as tailoring remains firmly anchored in our Company’s DNA. Through a modern interpretation and innovative product solutions, formalwear continues to offer further growth potential in the future. Our product range is rounded off by a comprehensive range of shoes and accessories as well as products such as bodywear and hosiery, also contributing around 25% to Group sales. Finally, our license business completes our 24/7 lifestyle offering with products such as fragrances, eyewear, and watches.

Digitalization is an important enabler in delivering on our vision of being the leading premium tech-driven fashion platform worldwide. Our Group strategy therefore includes a firm commitment to further driving digitalization along the entire value chain. Since the introduction of “CLAIM 5,” we have achieved strong progress in digitalizing important business processes and making use of artificial intelligence – from digital trend detection and product creation to our digital showrooms – while at the same time taking our online business to the next level. In particular, the ongoing digitalization of our product development is of high strategic importance.

The HUGO BOSS Digital Campus, spanning two locations in Metzingen (Germany) and Porto (Portugal), is at the heart of our digital journey. This co-working platform significantly expands our Company’s digital analytics capabilities, and is aimed at taking customer experience to new levels through the systematic use of data. The Digital Campus puts a strong emphasis on strengthening our global online business, particularly with regard to our digital flagship hugoboss.com and its dedicated customer app. By fostering data collaboration, we aim to establish an even closer relationship with our customers, while driving valuable insights and efficiencies along the value chain. At the same time, we are linking digital and physical retail even more seamlessly to provide consumers with a best-in-class omnichannel experience.

Since the introduction of “CLAIM 5,” we have made substantial progress in translating our regained brand power into our various customer touchpoints, thus providing consumers with a best-in-class omnichannel experience. In this context, we are fully leveraging our high-quality channel mix on a global scale, while continuing to ensure a seamless brand experience across all touchpoints.

With brick-and-mortar retail contributing more than 50% of Group sales, this channel remains by far the largest in terms of revenues. As laid out in “CLAIM 5,” we aim to improve store productivity by at least 3% per annum. Between 2021 and 2024, we achieved significant progress, achieving an average increase of 7% per year, supported by the ongoing optimization, modernization, and selective expansion of our global retail footprint. Key to this progress has been the global rollout of our latest BOSS and HUGO store concepts as well as the introduction of exciting pop-up stores, transforming our physical stores into true points of experience.

At the same time, brick-and-mortar wholesale is contributing around 25% of Group sales. Since the introduction of “CLAIM 5,” we have noticeably increased the visibility and market presence of both our brands at key European and U.S. department stores. Across this channel, we are fully leveraging all BOSS and HUGO brand lines to deliver a true 24/7 brand experience. In addition, we are also strengthening our global franchise business, particularly in emerging markets. 

Digital revenues account for 20% of Group sales. Further optimizing and expanding our global digital footprint remains key to successfully continuing our digital growth trajectory. At the same time, we are committed to continuously improving the digital journey to drive further market shares. In this context, a key milestone in 2024 was the launch of HUGO BOSS XP, an innovative omnichannel member experience, fostering customer engagement in the digital sphere. Initially rolled out in the UK, Germany, and France, the program is set to expand to additional markets in the coming years.

To ensure long-term success for HUGO BOSS, we transform our entire organization into a platform of speed and growth. Since the introduction of “CLAIM 5,” we have successfully converted our operating model to a platform approach and implemented a streamlined, brand-led organizational setup, ensuring rigorous strategy execution at a global level.

To support long-term growth and drive further efficiencies going forward, we have stepped up investments into our supply chain and logistics capabilities. In 2024, we pushed ahead with the implementation of our important Digital TWIN initiative, which is aimed at enabling smart decision-making through a tech-driven business operations platform while being a key enabler in terms of meeting consumer demand even more effectively in the future. At the same time, we are driving forward our nearshoring initiatives to better align our regional sourcing and production activities with key sales markets. In 2022, we opened an additional plant at our largest factory in Izmir (Turkey) specifically dedicated to the production of casualwear. We are also expanding one of our key logistics hubs near our headquarters in Metzingen (Germany), significantly increasing both shipping and storage capacity. These strategic initiatives will enable us to react even faster and more flexibly in the future, meeting consumer demand in the best-possible way.