Hugo Boss Tops Quarterly Profit Estimates Despite Geopolitical Uncertainty

An employee displays suits at the Hugo Boss section of the Central Universal Department Store (TsUM), in Kyiv, Ukraine January 25, 2021. (Reuters)
An employee displays suits at the Hugo Boss section of the Central Universal Department Store (TsUM), in Kyiv, Ukraine January 25, 2021. (Reuters)
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Hugo Boss Tops Quarterly Profit Estimates Despite Geopolitical Uncertainty

An employee displays suits at the Hugo Boss section of the Central Universal Department Store (TsUM), in Kyiv, Ukraine January 25, 2021. (Reuters)
An employee displays suits at the Hugo Boss section of the Central Universal Department Store (TsUM), in Kyiv, Ukraine January 25, 2021. (Reuters)

German fashion group Hugo Boss reported quarterly operating profit above expectations on Tuesday, despite a challenging market environment.

The company posted first-quarter earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of 35 million euros, down from 61 million euros a year earlier, but above analyst's forecast of 30 million euros in a company-provided poll.

The German firm reported ‌revenue of ‌905 million euros for the period, exceeding ‌analysts' ⁠forecast of 887 ⁠million euros.

"Following our successful finish to 2025, we entered the year with a clear roadmap. However, the market environment has become more challenging over the course of the first quarter, caused by recent developments in the Middle East," CEO Daniel Grieder ⁠said in a statement.

The war in ‌the Middle East has ‌roiled global markets, driving oil prices higher and re-igniting concerns ‌over global inflation and growth, with the vital ‌Strait of Hormuz remaining closed.

The company said the conflict in the region led to a notable decline in store traffic in the region from March onwards, while global ‌consumer sentiment stayed muted throughout the quarter, having a negative impact of around 1% ⁠on ⁠group sales in the first quarter.

However, Grieder said the firm had made progress streamlining product assortments and refining its global distribution footprint despite the geopolitical uncertainty.

"Against an increasingly challenging external backdrop, we remain firmly focused on executing our strategy, actively managing the business with flexibility and discipline," he added.

Hugo Boss has sought to boost the popularity of its brand through selected marketing investments, while increasing profits by limiting costs, despite weakening consumer demand.

The company confirmed its full-year guidance for 2026.



Saint Laurent Says Designer Anthony Vaccarello to Leave

(FILES) Belgian designer for Saint Laurent Anthony Vaccarello acknowledges the audience at the end of the women's 2018 Spring/Summer ready-to-wear collection fashion show in Paris, on September 26, 2017. (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP)
(FILES) Belgian designer for Saint Laurent Anthony Vaccarello acknowledges the audience at the end of the women's 2018 Spring/Summer ready-to-wear collection fashion show in Paris, on September 26, 2017. (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP)
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Saint Laurent Says Designer Anthony Vaccarello to Leave

(FILES) Belgian designer for Saint Laurent Anthony Vaccarello acknowledges the audience at the end of the women's 2018 Spring/Summer ready-to-wear collection fashion show in Paris, on September 26, 2017. (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP)
(FILES) Belgian designer for Saint Laurent Anthony Vaccarello acknowledges the audience at the end of the women's 2018 Spring/Summer ready-to-wear collection fashion show in Paris, on September 26, 2017. (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP)

Belgian fashion designer Anthony Vaccarello will leave his post as chief designer at Saint Laurent after a decade in charge, the French house's parent company Kering announced Friday.

"Anthony Vaccarello has played a key role in Saint Laurent's development, helping to strengthen its identity and influence across the worlds of fashion and culture," Kering said in a statement, without giving any reason for Vaccarello's departure.

The designer had hinted at his potential exit at his final show for Saint Laurent on September 29.

Saint Laurent is the last major Kering brand to switch creative director as a ⁠luxury ⁠industry slowdown prompted designer changes last year at Gucci, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta.

"The focus of the new designer will be in currently under-represented product categories, such as women's daywear and menswear, in high-end leather goods, and less penetrated regions such as China/Asia," Barclays analysts said in a note.

Industry speculation points to Chemena Kamali, currently creative director at Chloe and previously womenswear design director at Saint Laurent, as Vaccarello's likely successor.
Saint Laurent's gross revenues fell by 9% and 6% in 2024 and 2025, before largely stabilizing this year, according to Kering.


Nicole Kidman and Dua Lipa Watch Chanel’s Creative Revival at Paris Fashion Week

Models present creations for Chanel Women's Spring/Summer 2027 collection fashion show as part of the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris on October 5, 2026. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
Models present creations for Chanel Women's Spring/Summer 2027 collection fashion show as part of the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris on October 5, 2026. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
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Nicole Kidman and Dua Lipa Watch Chanel’s Creative Revival at Paris Fashion Week

Models present creations for Chanel Women's Spring/Summer 2027 collection fashion show as part of the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris on October 5, 2026. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)
Models present creations for Chanel Women's Spring/Summer 2027 collection fashion show as part of the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris on October 5, 2026. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)

Chanel’s artistic director Matthieu Blazy sent the fashion house's suits stretching towards sportswear and evening dresses drifting through clouds, with Nicole Kidman, Dua Lipa and Pedro Pascal in the audience as he unveiled his spring-summer 2027 collection.

The Monday night show underscored that a year into his creative revival, Blazy has made the house feel newly unpredictable.

The former Bottega Veneta designer succeeded Virginie Viard, who took over after Karl Lagerfeld ’s death in 2019. Viard’s tenure brought record sales but Blazy’s contribution has been to restore a sense that Chanel’s familiar ingredients can produce something unexpected.

That renewal is visible in his treatment of the house’s symbols: tweed can stretch; formal jackets sit against bare skin; quilted bags turn slouchy.

The appeal lies in giving established clients something recognizable, and newer ones something to reinterpret.

Beneath illuminated birds at the Grand Palais, Blazy's collection traced Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s passage from Edwardian constraint towards the freedom she sought in dress.

“It’s about the women within a woman,” Blazy wrote in his notes.

Across 83 looks, that meant expanding the possibilities of a Chanel wardrobe: knits that skimmed the body, masculine tailoring, airy eveningwear and sharply abbreviated skirts.

Raw-edged waistcoats and narrow skirt suits reworked men’s formal clothes. A pearl-embroidered corset top paired with black trousers brought the tension between restriction and ease into focus.

Older fashions lingered in ruffled collars, peplums and traces of corset boning.

The strongest development was Chanel’s new “smocked tweed,” designed to stretch and move with something of athleticwear’s ease. It was a useful proposition for an expensive, familiar garment: preserve its character while improving its possibilities.

Competing patterns and frothy tutus sometimes tipped towards costume. Dres

ses made from layered, printed silk were more persuasive, turning cloud formations and changing light into shifting color, The Associated Press reported.

Model Dyanira Hurbuscher opened and closed the collection — carrying Gabrielle Chanel’s own 2.55 handbag, borrowed from the famed archives.

That element neatly framed the collection’s ambition: continuity with room for change — a balance Blazy’s revitalization of Chanel rests on.

He has made Chanel's heritage feel available for play, backed by serious work in the ateliers.

Lipa wore a sleeveless skirt suit with pink heels. Kidman attended with her daughter Faith Margaret.


Chanel Unveils Tiger-Print Tweed and Sheer Skirt Suits in Spring/Summer Paris Show

Models present creations from the Spring/Summer 2027 collection of Chanel during Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 05 October 2026. (EPA)
Models present creations from the Spring/Summer 2027 collection of Chanel during Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 05 October 2026. (EPA)
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Chanel Unveils Tiger-Print Tweed and Sheer Skirt Suits in Spring/Summer Paris Show

Models present creations from the Spring/Summer 2027 collection of Chanel during Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 05 October 2026. (EPA)
Models present creations from the Spring/Summer 2027 collection of Chanel during Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, 05 October 2026. (EPA)

Chanel showed see-through skirts and tiger-print tweed in creative director Matthieu Blazy's spring/summer 2027 collection on Monday as the Parisian fashion house rides a wave of enthusiasm that has helped drive sales even as other luxury brands struggle.

Since his first collection a year ago, Blazy's designs — injecting youthful glitter and loud color combinations into the Parisian label's traditional tweed suits — have attracted new customers to the brand and kept Chanel stores ‌buzzing with activity.

Front-row ‌guests including Dua Lipa, Nicole Kidman, ‌and Pedro ⁠Pascal arrived to throngs ⁠of cameras in the vast expanse of the Grand Palais. The glass dome roof was hung with a giant moon and a flock of luminescent seagulls, while the floor was laid in a Martian orange-and-green pattern in reflective resin.

Models emerged wearing skirt suits in sheer cream ⁠or black fabric embroidered with flowers and beads, ‌and in tweed loosened into a ‌wide windowpane print with mesh panels, or reworked in ‌an eye-catching red-and-white tiger print.

“Chanel felt as alive as ever,” ‌said Angélique Liautaud, womenswear buying and merchandising director at French department store Printemps. “The masculine wardrobe, the fluid dresses, the lingerie, the liberated body, brought a new sensuality to the house.”

Some skirts were sliced ‌into swinging panels, others were shortened into pleated mini-skirts paired with cropped jackets showing the ⁠midriff. Hems ⁠were frayed or finished with metallic beading.

Models sported new versions of the brand's two-tone pumps — in leopard print or tiger print with a cream toe, or baby blue and silver, while sandals were chunky with a large interlocking C logo in gold across the front. Quilted handbags came in black, burgundy, and white with a couple of wild variations in zebra print layered with clashing primary colors.

Blazy, known for soundtracking his shows to anthems from the 2000s, ran out to greet the crowd after the finale to the heavy synths of "Gimme More" by Britney Spears.