Marc O’Polo wants to continue growing outside of the German home market. The clothing company from Stephanskirchen is also focusing on internationalization in the menswear sector and therefore presented itself again at the Pitti Uomo men’s fashion fair in Florence.
At the start of the order round, FashionUnited Product Manager Susanne Schwenger and Managing Director Maximilian Böck answered eight questions that are likely to be on the minds of many in the fashion industry.
Two years into the pandemic, are there things that still keep you up at night?
Maximilian Bock: Plenty. Inflation, consumerism and everything to do with the Ukraine war keep us all awake.
Suzanne Schwenger: Yes, all of us.
How does Marc O’Polo deal with inflation?
Maximilian Bock: First of all, we try to keep all prices as good as possible and also waive margins. With some items we don’t make it, we have increased the prices a bit, but then with an increased price-performance ratio. Over the last one or two seasons we have already increased the average prices by eight to ten percent. So we no longer have to make extreme changes to everything and are quite well positioned.
Materials such as cotton have become more expensive and, in particular, more sustainable raw materials. How does Marc O’Polo connect sustainability efforts with rising prices?
Suzanne Schwenger: I sometimes say cotton is the new gold. (laughs) We were already at 97 percent sustainable products at Fall/Winter. Our goal for the year 23 – which includes the winter collection – is to only offer sustainable products. If we don’t succeed at one point or another, then it has to do with the issue of availability. How to deal with it is challenging.
How is the business going? What forecasts do you have for 2022?
Maximilian Bock: We have an ambitious sales target that we plan to achieve, but it’s going to be tough. We closed the past financial year at the end of May with around EUR 540 million and are planning over EUR 600 million for this financial year.
Suzanne Schwenger: We already have the first round. The Fall/Winter orders one and two have already been completed and are paying into the fiscal year. We had very good quantities, especially in outerwear and knitwear. Spring/Summer will be challenging.
How is internationalization progressing, can the growth already be quantified in terms of sales?
Maximilian Bock: We have increased the international share from almost 30 percent to 34 percent in the past two years. International sales increased much more strongly in autumn/winter compared to national sales. This shows that we are on the right track. We have new partners such as Rinascente, El Corte Inglès, Magasin du Nord and, overall, we have multiplied the number of international points of sale.
The three largest focus markets are currently France, Spain and Italy. We have huge potential there and are still at the start. In existing markets such as Benelux, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe we can grow ‘like to like’.
As a fashion brand of your size, which trends will you no longer be able to avoid in 2022?
Suzanne Schwenger: That’s the theme ‘It gets more dressed.’ We are fundamentally a casual brand and we have to ask ourselves how we interpret this trend. There’s more jewelry, there’s more dress-up and styling.
Keyword working at Marc O’Polo: home office or office?
Maximilian Bock: We have a 50/50 rule. Half of the time you can work remotely, the other half you should come to the office. You can also work part of it in other European countries soon. Our employees make a significant contribution to the success of our company. Modern work concepts are very important to us.
Suzanne Schwenger: It also depends on the areas. When we’re talking about product, what we’re touching, the meeting and brainstorming has a different quality when we’re doing it live. Now we also use the freedom to get together again.
Are you currently hiring and in which areas?
Maximilian Bock: All over. Due to our strong growth we are looking for many employees and it is really difficult to find good employees in the numbers we need. We are looking for almost all areas, but we are always looking for people in retail, design and IT in particular.