Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine Magazine April 2018 | Page 75

WORLD WRAP
Abercrombie & Fitch
to shut 60 more
stores in 2018
the leading players in the global
menswear market, including Gap,
H&M, Zara, Kering, LVMH, Nike, and
PVH. These players are dominating
the global menswear market with
their wide range of product lines and
globally top-ranked fashion brands.
The intense competition in the market
has resulted in the development of
products with value-added benefits
and multifunctional features and
strategic pricing.
With competition getting fiercer,
celebrity endorsement has become an
important tool in setting fashion trends
and also in helping to build product
and brand awareness. For instance,
brands like Adidas, Reebok, Dolce &
Gabbana, Giorgio Armani, Givenchy,
and Gucci invest heavily in employing
popular male brand ambassadors to
endorse their products. Not to be left
behind, even department stores are
increasingly investing in celebrity
endorsements for their retail apparel
brands to attract customers and
compete in terms of brand awareness
and recognition. According to Market
Research analysts at Technavio, this
promotional strategy is in line with the
launch of international fast-fashion
retailers in the global market and
will boost this market’s growth in the
coming years.
In the recent market research by
Technavio, it is highlighted that the
increasing number of private label
brands and smaller manufacturers
of menswear products is one of the
upcoming trends that is spurring
this market’s growth prospects for
the future. These private labels are
undercutting the retail prices of
branded labels, and there has been a
distinct improvement in the quality of
the products offered by these private
labels. Significantly, each country
is developing own brands and in
India, for instance, smaller regional
manufacturers such as Arvind Textile,
Garmeto, and Windmill Creations
pose significant competition for fast-
fashion retailers, such as Zara, H&M,
and Forever 21 that are entering the
country’s menswear market.
The report also points out that among
the various product categories that
define menswear, the tops segment
has dominated the market so far and
is expected to reach a value of more
than close to US $ 228 billion by 2020.
This segment includes dress shirts,
T-shirts, sports shirts, tank tops,
sweaters, vests, sweatshirts, and work
shirts. Since, tops have a lower per
unit value than bottomwear, and they
need to be replaced more frequently,
it will propel more sales and growth
of this segment over the predicted
period. Moreover, significantly men
purchase higher quantities of tops
than bottomwear to diversify and
update their wardrobe.
The lure of affordable, trend-driven
‘fast’ fashion, driven in part by a large
online shopping sector, has opened
up wardrobe options. Yet, traditional
shopping also has its place and men
are willing to pay more for quality and
fit.
With men becoming more fashion-
conscious, brands are looking to
use social media to create more
opportunities – especially for
millennials, who are 1.6 times more
likely to use digital channels to learn
about new products. Men, in particular,
choose Instagram over fashion
magazines because of the wider
perspectives and styles available. Yet
L2inc, a business intelligence firm
that benchmarks digital performance
of consumer brands, found that
menswear-oriented brands fall behind
their peers when it comes to engaging
consumers through social platforms.
In comparison with womenswear
brands, and brands that sell both men’s
and women’s clothing, menswear-
only brands posted 53 per cent fewer
times and had 75 per cent smaller
social communities. Unsurprisingly,
therefore, they garnered 82 per cent
fewer interactions.
All this is set to change, and though
womenswear will remain the major
chunk…, men are now giving a good
run for their money. And brands/
retailers are keeping a hawk’s eye on
the changing direction.
Abercrombie & Fitch Co., the global retailer of casual luxury
apparels and accessories under the Abercrombie and Fitch,
Hollister and Abercrombie Kids labels, has announced to
shutter 60 Abercrombie and Hollister stores this year, in a bid to
improve its financial standing.
However, the company is yet to confirm which stores it would
be closing down in the coming months. The fashion retailer has
already closed more than 400 stores since 2010 and 60 per cent
of its leases will expire in the ne