French textile industrialist Gerard Losson, the owner of the largest men’s suits manufacturer in Romania, Formens Botosani, bets on retail to grow his business by more than 50% in the next five years.

Formens Botosani, which currently makes some 700,000 ready to wear men’s suits each year for big international brands, aims to grow its own brand, Louis Purple, and to make it one of the referral names for men’s fashion in Romania and in Europe.

Formens will open its first four Louis Purple shops in Romania, in March this year, which will sell ready to wear menswear, as well as made to measure suits. Losson launched the Louis Purple brand in 2009. However, up until this year this brand included only tailor made suits and didn’t have its own shops, but rather specialized corners within larger menswear stores.

In addition to opening its own shops, the Louis Purple brand aims to become more accessible and to capture a target of young executives and corporate managers, aged 25 to 45, a segment currently dominated by big international mainstream retailers such as Zara and H&M.

“We know that, in order to find our place in such a competitive market, we must have a very sharp knife. If we sold the same products as everyone else, it would be pointless to do this. We might as well invest in real estate. But we have a big advantage, as we produce suits for big international brands, we collaborate in the designing process, so we know the trends in fashion as well as the best retailers,” Gerard Losson explained. “We don’t copy Zara; we get our inspiration from top brands that sell their suits with EUR 1,000 a piece.”

“Another essential advantage is that we also make the suits, which allows us have correct and competitive prices,” he added.

Formens makes the Louis Purple suits in its factory in Botosani, in Northern Romania, which is one of the largest confections factories in the country. It spans over 17,000 sqm and has some 870 employees. It makes mainly men’s suit jackets, as well as trousers and made to measure shirts.

The company also owns a factory in Dorohoi, some 40 kilometers North of Botosani, which produces men’s trousers. The Europant factory in Dorohoi has 6,000 sqm and 160 employees.

In addition to its own facilities, Formens subcontracts manufacturing to eight partner companies located in Ukraine and the Moldova Republic.

The company currently exports 97.7% of its production to more than 300 clients in 32 countries. Its biggest markets are France and United Kingdom. In 2014, Formens reached a turnover of EUR 42 million.

By 2019, the company aims to reach EUR 65 million in sales, with EUR 30 million coming from its Louis Purple retail network.

“We intend to open 60 Louis Purple shops by 2019. In Romania, we will open them directly, whereas on other markets we will have a franchise system. We will own the merchandise, and the shop owners will get a commission based on their sales,” said Gerard Losson. His goal for the first year is to open eight stores and to reach some EUR 4 million in sales.

He said the average investment in a shop is around EUR 125,000. The first four shops will be in Bucharest, Iasi, Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara. The first unit in Bucharest will be a flagship store that will open in an old villa near Romana Square. The other three will open in Palace Iasi and Iulius Mall Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara.

The Louis Purple shops will have around 400 ready to wear suit models and other men fashion items, such as shirts, shoes, ties, and jackets made by partner manufacturers. The ready to wear suit collection will have three lines priced EUR 200 (RON 899), EUR 270 (RON 1,199) and EUR 500.

Each shop will also have a made to measure corner, for more sophisticated clients. The shops will have 3D scanners that will take the clients’ measures, as well as posture particularities for tailor made suits. The price for such a suit starts at some EUR 360 (RON 1,600).

Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com