Lacoste develops its accessories
Become a registered "lifestyle" is the ambition of leaders Lacoste for years to come. To do this they have developed the part of accessories in the total turnover. Therefore, the parent company, S. A. Lacoste, who does nothing but manage the image of the brand, decided to resume late 2010 the license granted to the leather Samsonite American for eight years to tell his historical partner, the French industrial Devanlay.
Devanlay, 60% of sales by Lacoste, through the clothing of crocodile license. Since the beginning, these two companies through interlocking shareholdings (Devanlay has 35% of Lacoste and Lacoste 10% stake in Devanlay) work hand in hand.Their goal is to increase the share of leather goods from 4% to 8% of total sales within five years.
"While we have almost 4 000 references per year just in the textile, when we ask a client to appoint a product is always the same means we have work," says Jose – Luis Duran, CEO of Devanlay, where he arrived six months ago, after having been boss of Carrefour. Polo, founded in 1933, sold over 13 million copies a year worldwide. But it represents only 20% of the income of the mark (1.5 billion euros in total wholesale rate).
The crocodile is diversifying
Clothing, which weighed 85% of sales in 2000, none reported more than 60%.Meanwhile, footwear (20%), perfume (15%, produced by Procter & Gamble) or watches (5%) took off.
In total, Lacoste has granted nine licenses for specific product categories in different industries. Latest: mobile phones, the company entrusted with ModeLabs, the first model will come in six months. To develop leather, Devanlay created a joint venture with a French specialist sector Tolomei.
Lacoste plans to continue this diversification. "We are in constant reflection on these topics, explains Christophe Chenut, CEO of Lacoste S. A.We look at the world of home and decorating, mobility with electric bicycles or bikes, we've already made a limited number of strollers with McLaren in the United States, but these ideas must pass through many filters and answer a requirement of internationalization. Each license must also help us recruit and retain a new category of customers. "Bags were well designed to feminize a mark at three quarters male.