Bottega Veneta‘s revenue drop was worse than in the first quarter, when organic sales fell 8.3 percent. Bottega Veneta’s sales declined by 9.8 percent in like-for-like second-quarter sales. Bottega Veneta is the second largest brand of the Kering Group after Gucci.
Kering Finance Director Jean-Marc Duplaix said around 70 percent of Bottega Veneta’s customer base came from Asia, including Japan, and the brand had suffered from lower Asian tourist traffic to Europe.
Duplaix also explained that Bottega Veneta was hit by new fashion trends, which favored small bags with shoulder straps, while the brand was better known for big bags and its intrecciato, or weaved leather.
“Our offer had to adapt itself to changing consumer attitudes,” Duplaix said about Bottega Veneta in a conference call with journalists.
Bottega Veneta generated nearly 1.3 billion in annual sales last year while Gucci sales were just under 4 billion euros.
Kering said it expected Bottega’s operating margins to remain under pressure and the drop in the second half would be of the same order as in the first half, or around 320-350 basis points.
The group acknowledged the brand had a problem regarding the lack of perceived “newness” of its products in stores and it was working to mend that perception. “We need to change our communication and display in the stores,” said Kering Managing Director Jean-Francois Palus.
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