Clarks wants to return to its large size. To do so, it elaborated a three-year plan with big changes. The only imperative: the iconic Desert Boot model is here to stay. The British brand wants to celebrate its 200th anniversary as well as possible. Given this will happen in 2025, it only has 3 years to put behind a complicated period that brought to the sale of the brand by the founding family. Now the new owner is Viva China, fund of Chinese group Li Ning. There are signs of improvement: the company closed 2022 with a revenue of 978.3 million UK pounds, compared to the 920.3 million of 2021. The goal is to reach 1.6 billion by 2027. How will it achieve that?
Never without the Desert Boot
Clark’s general director Jonathan Ram, elaborated a three-year plan to grow. First question: what clients to focus on? The plan discusses two profiles. “The first is between 16 and 30 years old, follows trends and buys fashion items regularly. The second is over 30, and pays attention to materials and finishings”, explained to Fashion Network Olivier Motteau, CEO of Europe, Middle East and Africa. The manager has no doubt over the future of the Desert Boot model: “We won’t retire the iconic model from retailers, after it has been defended for decades”.
New products
Relaunching the brand’s attractiveness also means rationalizing the product offering, by creating more relevant articles for all client segments. Motteau is aware he will need to first wait for collaborations to take place (such as that with designer Martine Rose), and provide the hoped-for result. “We need time before buyers understand the changes the brand is undergoing – he explains -. We need to have the tools to intercept the push that collaborations provide and have the right product offering”.
The key role of Italy
“Our three-year plan is focused on five key markets in the EMEA area: Germany, Benelux, Italy, France and Spain”, explains Motteau. Clarks will there launch its new concept store, called Modern Workshop.
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