Esprit entrusting its childrenswear to Zannier

By

Bruno Joly

Published
Jun 2, 2015

Esprit will always be thought of as a family brand, with a 30-something woman and mother as the heart of the brand and her children playing at her feet as one of the brand's other offerings, even if childrenswear currently only accounts for 3.4% of the brand's activity.

Facing financial difficulties, the brand retailer has decided to take on a strong partner to regalvanise its childrenswear, the sales of which dove 16.6% to 365 million Hong Kong dollars at a constant currency in the first quarter of the current financial year. A volume that is too weak to achieve any sort of profitable margins. 

It is thus Zannier, a leader in children's fashion, which it will be entrusting with a licence for its childrenswear. The French specialist will thus be in charge of designing, producing and distributing Esprit Kids for Europe and the Middle East as of 1 January 2016. The initial contract is set for 5 years.

It will also be setting up a legal entity in Ratingen, near Düsseldorf, the location of Esprit's operational headquarters. This entity should also make it possible for Zannier to hire on some of the employees from the Esprit Kids division. The first collections resulting from this partnership will be those of fall/winter 2016-17. 

In addition to its own brands, Zannier develops international brands under licence and already works for Levi’s, Kenzo, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Paul Smith, and Dim.