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Alberto Raengo, a veritable icon in the world of sportswear, has successfully established many a brand. He describes Holubar as his masterpiece.
A clear brand image, that is willing to resist trends from time to time, is one of Holubar’s main strengths. He believed in Holubar when the market wasn’t even aware of the brand yet: Tomislav Grajzar is responsible for the selective distribution strategy.
Holubar. BELIEVE When everyone used nylon, he used coated cotton. When everyone was looking for fur trimming, he came along with an alpaca teddy material. Alberto Raengo, an Italian sportswear visionary, has now decided to crown his career with Holubar, a brand for which he has devised - and persisted with - a strong, distinguishable brand identity. He is now reaping the rewards. Text: Martina Müllner-Seybold. Photos: Holubar
“We have always been consistent”, says Alberto Raengo with a hint of pride. In 2010, he revived Holubar, a sleeping beauty, with a kiss and now his love is bearing fruit. “We relaunched Holubar in a difficult market environment. Italy’s fashion industry had just experienced its toughest year since World War II. Our positioning, our style, and our materials - so
literally everything the brand stands for - was in stark contrast to what buyers were looking for.” With a mixture of heritage pieces from the original American brand and new creations, Holubar resisted all trends. It offered masculine, significant, rough, and authentic styles that translated their roots in the outdoor industry into an urban environment. “To be honest, it was a real struggle. But despite all the adversities, I never stopped believing in the brand”, Raengo stresses. From the offset, Tomislav Grajzar, who is responsible for international sales and founded the German sales company with Thomas Köhler, fought alongside Raengo “like a lone knight”. The two business partners, who have known each other since their youth, put their own money on the line and took significant personal risks for the brand. “Holubar’s claim includes the description ‘Pioneers of American Outdoor Clothing’
and that’s exactly how we acted we did pioneering work.” Consistency
The efforts are now paying off. In 2017, the sales in Germany tripled with reference customers such as Breuninger and Masculin Group. In addition, the brand is experiencing growth in its Italian home market, as well as identifying positive growth indicators in markets such as France, the Benelux countries, Korea, China, Russia, and Japan. “We feel that the market is now ready for a different kind of jacket. In addition, our decision to ensure that our collection is completely fur-free as of autumn/winter 2018 is perfectly in line with the zeitgeist”, Raengo adds. Alongside classics such as the Metro and Boulder parkas, the brand relies heavily on rediscovering archived styles. “Next season, we will reintroduce two fabrics that have a long history at Holubar: Loden
and Cordura”, Raengo reveals. Re-interpreting old stories is one of his specialities. The socalled Super-Hoodie, which is what Holubar calls its hooded creation that is characterised by soft alpaca teddy lining supplied by Steiff-Schulte, follows the same principle. “With prices between 649 and 749 Euros for a jacket that is both produced and sourced exclusively in Europe, we offer an optimal price-performance ratio”, Grajzar argues. However, Holubar has no intention of opening the floodgates just because the interest is currently high. “We want to grow with our existing customers and will team up with a few new customers only”, Grajzar says with the air of someone who always keeps his promises. Raengo adds: “Look, I’m 55. This is probably my last project of this kind. It is my masterpiece, so it goes without saying that I will guard it like treasure.” www.holubar.it style in progress 118