German fashion group S.Oliver appoints Liebeskind founders to leadership roles
Strong strategic direction and a stable liquidity position played a key role in the group's financial recovery. S.Oliver significantly outperformed its previous year's result of EUR -40 million ($47.2 million), returning to profitability. According to the company, its Comma and Copenhagen Studios brands were instrumental in driving this positive momentum.
In line with its growth strategy, S.Oliver will strengthen its leadership team on September 1 with the appointment of Julian and Johannes Rellecke. As the founders of Liebeskind Berlin and managing founders of Copenhagen Studios, the brothers have long maintained a close relationship with the group.
Julian Rellecke will oversee product, design, and art direction across all of the group's brands. Johannes Rellecke will step into the role of deputy chairman of the management board. With their deep roots in the fashion and accessories industry and a strong entrepreneurial outlook, the brothers are expected to bring fresh energy to the continued evolution of S.Oliver's brand portfolio.
Looking ahead to 2025, the Rottendorf-based company plans to expand its international footprint, accelerate digitalization and vertical integration efforts, and pursue targeted brand development across its portfolio.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
9 hours ago
- Euronews
Ireland, Lithuania and Spain: Who will lead the Eurogroup next?
Ireland, Lithuania and Spain are vying for leadership of the Eurogroup on Monday, which chairs the monthly meetings of the 20 eurozone finance ministers and plays a key role in coordinating and influencing the Council's economic policy decisions. Over the past two decades, the Eurogroup has had only four permanent presidents: Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker (2005–2013), the Netherlands' Jeroen Dijsselbloem (2013–2018), Portugal's Mário Centeno (2018–2020), and Ireland's Paschal Donohoe. Since 2020, the position has been held by Donohoe, a member of the influential European People's Party (EPP). But for his potential third term, the Irishman is being challenged by the socialist finance ministers of Spain and Lithuania, Carlos Cuerpo and Rimantas Šadžius, who are offering an alternative vision for the next two and a half years. The vote on Monday will be held in secret. To win, a candidate must secure at least eleven out of twenty votes. Cuerpo offers a 'renewed' and ambitious agenda The Spanish contender, Carlos Cuerpo, is an economist with a PhD and previous experience at the European Commission and Spain's fiscal watchdog, AIReF. He has served as Spain's finance minister since late 2023, when he succeeded Nadia Calviño, who now leads the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank. Cuerpo is not the first Spaniard to seek leadership of this informal group. Calviño ran against Donohoe in 2022, and Luis de Guindos—now Vice President of the European Central Bank—also tried to secure the role during his time as economy minister under a Spanish Popular Party government. In his motivation letter to fellow ministers, Cuerpo laid out an 'ambitious' and renewed agenda aimed at strengthening the eurozone's long-term growth, completing the capital markets union, boosting the international role of the euro, and finalizing the banking union. 'The time has come to move from discussion to delivery. The credibility of our collective project depends not on what we say, but on what we achieve—together, and without delay,' Cuerpo wrote. Earlier this month, Spain—along with Germany, France, and Italy—presented a discussion paper arguing that although the Eurogroup has been effective during crises, it has often lacked decisiveness in other areas, particularly in advancing the capital markets union. As a Spanish socialist, the 44-year-old finance minister has also supported issuing new common debt to strengthen Europe's defence capabilities. He has called for doubling the EU's next long-term budget—from 1% of the bloc's GDP—to fund both traditional priorities, such as agriculture and cohesion, and new ones, including security, defence, and the green and digital transitions. Several diplomatic sources suggest the real contest is between Cuerpo and Donohoe. However, Cuerpo's political family is in the minority within the Eurogroup, and his more transformative proposals may face resistance from fiscally conservative countries like Germany and the Netherlands. Paschal Donohoe: 'predictability' in times of crisis Amid soaring trade tensions and a war on the EU's borders, Paschal Donohoe tells his 19 finance peers in a letter seeking their support that the global economy is at 'a pivotal juncture'. Despite all the challenges, the Irishman argues that the Eurogroup remains a source of predictability, stability and transparency. He also praised the achievements of recent years under his leadership, while warning that more work is needed. "The changing external environment gives us the impetus and imperative to progress on long-standing issues and deliver on our shared priorities," he said, promising to remain an honest broker in the group's negotiations. If he is re-elected, he plans to deepen the European capital markets, make progress on the digital euro, promote greater dynamism in integration, and continue to invest in security cooperation. 'An awful lot can happen in a number of weeks in the world that we're in, but I am encouraged by the support I've currently received,' the Irish finance minister told Euronews in a recent interview. Šadžius calls for a less concentrated capital markets union In the race for the presidency of the Eurogroup, Rimantas Šadžius is the wild card. Despite being a highly experienced finance minister from Lithuania, he faces two main disadvantages: he belongs to the socialist political family—meaning he competes for the same pool of votes as Carlos Cuerpo—and he is seeking the backing of smaller countries, a constituency Paschal Donohoe has long cultivated. Šadžius has served as a member of the Luxembourg-based European Court of Auditors, and has played a leading role in Lithuania's accession to the eurozone since 2015. He also chaired ECOFIN during Lithuania's presidency of the Council of the EU in 2013, a period marked by key decisions on the creation of the Banking Union. Diplomatic sources suggest Šadžius could attract support from EU member states closest to Russia's border, but he is not expected to gain enough votes to win the race. In his letter to fellow ministers, the Lithuanian candidate pledges to promote deeper integration of member states into the euro area, avoid overlaps with the European Council's agenda, ensure fiscal sustainability, and accelerate the rollout of the digital euro. Like his rivals, Šadžius commits to completing both the banking union and the capital markets union. However, he stresses the need to address the fact that the latter remains 'heterogeneous and more concentrated in Western and Northern Europe.'
Euronews
a day ago
- Euronews
Shoplifting hits record high in Germany: Are criminal gangs behind it?
German retailers noticed a gaping hole of missing merchandise worth €4.95bn when they completed their inventories in 2024. That's according to a new publication by the country's EHI Retail Institute, based on a survey they carry out each year. And while the overall loss is 3% more than in the previous year and a new record, the nearly €5bn is not entirely due to crime. The report estimates that approximately €4.2bn of losses are linked to theft, and the rest can be blamed on companies' own mistakes, such as incorrect price labelling, and recording and valuation errors. The survey collected responses from 98 companies, operating more than 17,000 shops in Germany. The report suggests that shoplifting, including organised crime, cost approximately €2.95bn to the sector last year, an increase from €2.82bn in 2023. Companies' own employees were also behind losses of €890mn, and a loss of €370mn was attributed to theft by suppliers and service companies. According to EHI's report, shoplifting, theft committed by customers, has been on the rise since the COVID-19 pandemic, despite police reports showing a 5% decline in reported cases in 2024. 'A total of 98% of all thefts go undetected in Germany, meaning that counting losses requires checking inventories for missing items,' the report said. Shoplifting is increasingly controlled by organised crime Professional theft rings have become a significant retail threat. The study estimates that, compared to last year, shoplifting linked to organised criminal activity increased by 5%. In 2024, organised activity accounted for around one-third of all the customers' theft, or almost €1bn. 'Many retailers are certain that organised theft is becoming increasingly professional and will continue to increase,' the report said. It added: 'Larger groups enter stores and mercilessly pack products. Security and staff usually have no chance. The unmanageable development of gang crime, its connection to large online sales platforms, and the lack of action against it are problems.' Poverty could also fuel shoplifting 'Another challenge remains 'ordinary' customer theft, which is partly attributed to rising living costs and higher unemployment,' the report said. Germany, the biggest economy in the EU, has been struggling with inflated energy prices and lower productivity, partly linked to the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic. The country's manufacturing sector is now facing major uncertainties in global trade, coupled with elevated energy prices and supply chain issues. The ailing economy has contracted every other quarter since the end of 2022. Housing costs rose to the extent that 12% of the population spent more than 40% of their income on it last year, according to the country's statistics office. The EU average is 8.2%. One-fifth of the people are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, and though inflation has eased to around 2%, unemployment is at the highest level since late 2020, sitting at 6.2%, according to the Federal Employment Agency. The agency also said in its latest report that the number of unemployed people is nearing the 3 million mark for the first time in a decade. Where does shoplifting occur the most? Nearly €2bn worth of stolen goods were missing from food stores, and smaller supermarkets were the most targeted. Drugstores and hardware stores also saw significantly increased losses in some cases. Meanwhile, official police records, which don't cover each case, show a 5% decline in shoplifting cases for 2024, according to Police Crime Statistics data (Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik). This follows two dramatic increases in 2022 and 2023 when the reported cases showed a double-digit jump each year, rising by 34.3% and 23.6% respectively. However, the survey by EHI Retail Institute said that an estimated 98% of shoplifting cases go undetected. In 2024, retailers' damage, worth €4.2bn, also translated into losses for the federal budget. 'The economic damage resulting from theft due to lost sales tax amounts to approximately €570mn per year,' the report said, assuming that three-quarters of the stolen items are subject to a VAT rate of 19% and the remaining quarter to 7%. Increased security budgets Retail companies spend around 0.33% of their turnover on security measures, including staff training, camera surveillance, targeted use of store detectives, and anti-theft display units. The total cost of all related investments was around €3.1bn, bringing the total cost of theft and prevention to €7.3bn last year. This comes down to around 1.5% of the sales prices of the average purchase, meaning that customers had to shoulder the costs, too, the study concluded.
Fashion Network
2 days ago
- Fashion Network
Hugo Boss faces dividend opposition from Frasers
Frasers Group Plc warned Hugo Boss AG that it will vote against any dividends, as the British retailer owned by billionaire Mike Ashley exerts its influence after years of building a stake in the German fashion house. Hugo Boss's management should prioritize funding long-term growth and financial flexibility over paying out dividends, Frasers said in a statement late Thursday. It also said the company's stock is undervalued, and called on Hugo Boss to redeem all its treasury shares. Shares of Hugo Boss rose as much as 4.2% in morning trading on Friday, with trading volume about 18 times the average for the time of day. The company, founded by Mike Ashley and formerly known as Sports Direct, is known for acquiring significant stakes in other retailers and using its position to influence board-level decisions. That strategy now appears to extend to Hugo Boss, just weeks after Frasers Chief Executive Officer Michael Murray joined the brand's supervisory board. Frasers and Hugo Boss have had a long relationship that includes the British retailer selling the fashion brand's stock across its stores and online. Ashley's company holds 25% of voting rights in Hugo Boss, according to a filing last month, with exposure to a further 32% through the sale of put options. Frasers said it will support Hugo Boss Chief Executive Officer Daniel Grieder and Stephan Sturm, chairman of its supervisory board, in growing the fashion brand. It also said it does not rule out increasing its stake in the company over the next year, subject to market conditions. In its response, Hugo Boss said it maintains an active and constructive dialog with all shareholders, and appreciates the engagement with Frasers. The company will outline a new strategy at a capital markets day in the fourth quarter, including an evaluation of how capital is allocated to keep aligning the company's long-term goals with shareholder interests. Hugo Boss also said that while it has not seen any downside in keeping 1.4 million treasury shares acquired between 2004 and 2007, it is now considering redeeming them as Frasers requested. Frasers has a history of high-profile clashes with companies in which it held stakes, including with department stores Debenhams and House of Fraser. The business is now run by Murray, Ashley's son-in-law, and has expanded its premium offering with upmarket outlet Flannels. Last year, Frasers walked away from an attempted takeover of British handbag maker Mulberry Group Plc but still pushed for a board seat.
