AWWG accelerates growth and aims for €655 million in 2023

Renowned and established brands enhancing their positioning while seeking to connect with a new generation of consumers. An international team closely linked to the firms’ native markets. A clearly outlined roadmap in terms of distribution and business. These seem to be the pillars supporting the strategy of All We Wear Group (AWWG), which encompasses Pepe Jeans, Hackett, and Façonnable and is advancing its growth projections. Initially projecting €650 million in turnover for 2024-2025, the company now anticipates concluding the year 2023-2024 with sales reaching €655 million.

“Our forecast for the close of this fiscal year at the end of March is €655 million in turnover and €70 million in EBITDA. These are our estimations, but everyone in the market is anticipating the results from the Black Friday and Christmas campaigns,” explained Marcella Wartenbergh, CEO of AWWG since late 2019, speaking to FashionNetwork.com.

Wartenbergh conveyed these figures from New York while her team unveiled Hackett’s new store on London’s prominent Bond Street. “Currently, there are many very large stores, some lacking soul, but we wanted to invest in a special boutique that made customers feel at home. Everything within it has a British history; as a brand, we went back to the essence: Hackett, by the type of product it offers, needed to embody the English essence in every detail,” remarked the CEO of the group.

At the close of the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the men’s brand accounted for 30% of the group’s sales. Given its performance, AWWG forecasts it will contribute 40% of its revenue in the current fiscal year. Another 58% will be attributed to Pepe Jeans, while the remaining percentage will be allocated to Façonnable.

The conglomerate’s three brands continue to pursue distinct strategies. In the case of Pepe Jeans, the flagship label is executing its Pepe Evolution plan, focused on elevating the brand and optimizing its price-quality ratio, already evident in the autumn-winter collection. “The initial results have been very positive, and now we are focusing on attracting the consumer, ensuring they are aware that the product has evolved,” shared Marcella.

Pepe Jeans’ flagship store on Fuencarral and international openings for Hackett and Façonnable

As part of this strategy, Pepe Jeans is gearing up to open a flagship store on Madrid’s Fuencarral Street by the end of the first semester of 2024. “We will introduce a new concept, a flagship store centered on customer experience and product, which is more important to us than the store’s size,” detailed the CEO.

While this will be one of the company’s key milestones next year, its retail expansion in the upcoming months will focus on Hackett and Façonnable. Hence, in the remainder of 2023, two Façonnable stores will debut in Mexico (Artz Pedregal and Antara, both shopping centers in the capital), and in February, the second store of this brand in Paris will be unveiled. In 2024, Façonnable will open its doors to a location on Paseo de Gracia in Barcelona.

For Hackett, December will see the inauguration of “a megastore akin to Bond Street” on Masaryk Avenue in Mexico City. Furthermore, in the course of 2024, the brand will add at least two new outlets in Paris.

With a presence in 60 markets, a multi-brand network of 4000 points of sale, and approximately 500 stores, All We Wear Group, headquartered with offices in Madrid, is currently a globally characterized group, with the UK, Germany, and Spain as its primary markets. “Although the market shares by country vary according to the brand: for Hackett, the top three are the UK, Spain, and France; for Pepe Jeans, it’s Spain, Germany, and France, for example,” detailed the executive.

Since her arrival at the company four years ago, Marcella Wartenbergh has worked on a significant transformation of the group, noticeable not only in the results but also in the organizational structure. Earlier this year, Dan Slater assumed the role of vice president of retail at Hackett after over two decades with the brand, and Gianni Colarossi, after six years with the firm, transitioned to vice president of product.

“I believe it’s important to promote internal talent. The company has reached stability and a growth phase where we wanted to offer an opportunity to a new generation of leadership and invest in them,” concluded the CEO of All We Wear Group.