WHAT'S THE STORY
Do B e t t e r – Rh y t h m
LIU JO
“THE DELIVERY RHYTHM AND GOODS AT THE POS MUST CORRESPOND TO THE SEASON” Italian premium label Liu Jo continues to grow in the contemporary segment of feminine womenswear. In an interview with style in progress, Marco Marchi, the brand’s CEO and Creative Director, explains how he utilises efficient time-to-market solutions to unlock the North European market and the German-speaking market in particular. Interview: Kay Alexander Plonka. Photos: Liu Jo
You have developed an NOS programme exclusively for the German-speaking market. You also recently started offering flash programmes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. What’s so special about this development? With the flash programmes, we offer products that correspond to current trends and meet demands. If we discover that certain colours, materials, or silhouettes, which are not featured in our main or intermediate collections, are in demand, we develop them on a short-term basis and offer them to our retail partners via the Liu Jo B2B platform promising immediate delivery. We don’t follow a fixed pattern, however. A flash collection can consist of a pair of trousers in two, four, or six colours. It can also be a capsule with eight, twelve, or 24 pieces in just one colour. There are also no fixed dates for such flash collections. As soon as we identify a demand, we develop a programme and implement it swiftly. What changes have you made in terms of collection development in response to the needs of the market? We have significantly compressed the number of pieces and sublines within the collection for our wholesale customers and are now focusing our efforts on the three lines White Label, Denim, and Sports, complemented by our accessories line with a total of four delivery dates per half year. This allows us to offer our retailers a precise image that they can convey and communicate easily at the POS. It’s no longer sensible to deliver winter jackets in July. The delivery rhythm and the goods at the POS must correspond to the season. Nobody feels excited anticipation when buying a 118
style in progress
Marco Marchi, the CEO and Creative Director of Liu Jo, offers the right looks at the right time.
warm wool coat, a hat, or lined boots in August, just to stuff the pieces into the cupboard for months until they can be actually worn. The product range at the POS must be fresh, up-to-date, and needs-based at all times. Liu Jo introduced a menswear collection in Italy three years ago. Why is it not available in these parts? The men’s collection, produced by licensee Co.Ca.Ma from Nola near Naples, is highly popular and we’ve already received inquiries from the German market. The different fits in Northern and Southern Europe are a very important issue in the menswear segment. We address this issue very carefully. Only once the product and the sizing is 100 percent correct, will we start selling the collection in Northern Europe - most likely in 2020.
