Bosideng eyes strong growth in sports fashion

Bosideng International Holdings Ltd, a major Chinese down apparel maker, said it is stepping up efforts to tap the strong potential of China's high-end sports fashion consumption market.

"Bosideng has been speeding up its transformation of digitalization and smart manufacturing in recent years. We have developed a big data center and established high-end smart manufacturing and distribution facilities in China," said Gao Dekang, founder and chairman of Bosideng.

Bosideng established cooperation with German high-end sportswear and skiwear brand Willy Bogner GmbH& Co in November to better its business layout in the high-end ice and snow clothing market, and better cash in on the surging demand triggered by the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

Munich-based Bogner entered the China market through a joint venture with Bosideng. Bogner said it expects the number of fashion and winter sports enthusiasts in China to increase at an above-average rate. The company said it plans to spend big on digitalization and establish some 80 retail stores in China.

"The JV step is a milestone in our global growth path and contributes perfectly to our internationalization strategy. Our goal is to become an established player in the athletic luxury sports fashion sector in China, creating a new dimension to the combination of fashion and sports. We are pleased to have Bosideng as a strong partner with great market expertise at our side to seize the potential of the region with us," said Heinz Hackl, co-CEO of Bogner.

Konstantinos Balogiannis, global director of sales at Bogner, said: "Bosideng is the one we found ideal for our large-scale market entry. The JV enables us to actively shape the market and operate very independently in China. Meanwhile, we can draw on Bosideng's local market expertise and network."

For Bosideng, it has been aiming to attract more consumers by expanding its online sales.

During this year's Nov 11 shopping gala, Bosideng achieved sales of 2.78 billion yuan, ranking tops among Chinese apparel brands in terms of sales revenue recorded via Tmall－Alibaba's e-commerce platform.

The company has maintained a significant lead in the down apparel sector for 26 consecutive years in terms of sales revenue and volume in China.

In the first half, Bosideng achieved sales revenue of 5.39 billion yuan ($846 million), up 15.6 percent year-on-year. Its net profit in the same period reached 640 million yuan, a rise of 31.4 percent, the company said.

In addition, this year, Bosideng was first listed in the top 50 most valuable global clothing brands by Brand Finance, a London-based independent brand valuation and strategy consultancy.

Founded in 1976, the company has some 4,600 stores, and it has attracted many loyal customers for its mid-end and high-end products.

The domestic down apparel sector is also entering a high-quality growth path. By 2022, sales revenue of China's down apparel sector is expected to reach 180 billion yuan, said research firm AskCI Consulting.

Compared with the United States and Europe, where the penetration rate of down apparel is higher, there is still significant room for Chinese consumers to improve their appreciation of down jackets. In the future, there is potential for at least 20 percent sales growth in China's down jacket market, CITIC Securities said.