Wacoal, Descente team up for comprehensive business expansion

Wacoal Holdings Corp, a leading company in the global innerwear market, and Descente Ltd, engaged in manufacture and sales of sportswear, have agreed to a alliance aimed at strengthening both companies' domestic and global growth, making use of their respective expertise in fashion and sports. They will also collaborate on design and distribution.

As per the Comprehensive Business Alliance Agreement, both of the Japanese companies will work towards floating new brand concepts, and creating new opportunities in the athleisure market going beyond the barriers of fashion, sports, health and beauty.

The alliance also envisages developing commercial materials that utilise both companies’ ‘craftsmanship’ strengths, including collaboration in compression wear, sports baselayer and swimwear, and joint product development and design, manufacturing and marketing, effectively utilising both company’s distribution channels.

The alliance also aims at effective use of assets owned by both companies, including the use of overseas bases, and accelerating global growth by exploiting Wacoal’s strong business base in Europe and America and Descente’s significant presence in Asia. There will be collaboration in e-commerce sites by creating linkage between the domestic and overseas e-commerce sites for both companies. Additionally, there will be collaboration in the junior market category, and new brands will be introduced to the junior wear market.

“Under this new partnership, we have decided to pursue opportunities in ‘beauty, health and comfort’ to take maximum advantage of Wacoal’s dominant position in the innerwear market and Descente’s accumulated sportswear knowhow built with elite athlete participation. Using our respective management resources, we will cooperate comprehensively to create new value beyond our current fields of fashion and sports, and by doing so, strengthen, develop and expand both our domestic and global business,” the companies said in a joint press release.

As a next step, a panel comprising members from both companies will be set up immediately, aiming at early realisation of business opportunities through the alliance.