Esprit: head of menswear Patrick Götz leaves the group

By

Bruno Joly

Published
Dec 14, 2015

Esprit is having to deal with some of its key managers leaving. After Armin Broger, who was in charge of every.day.counts, it's now Patrick Götz's turn, who was in charge of menswear, to leave.

Götz joined the company in 2010 and was appointed Global Business Manager for Esprit Men. His departure reveals much about the current strategic status of men's fashion at Esprit.

The eponymous retail brand has been facing difficulties for several years and always claimed that its repositioning would actually go through women's fashion. In July however, Edo van Elderen was appointed Vice-President of menswear, with the objective of strengthening the organisation, in the hope of making up for lost ground in men's fashion.

The menswear division only accounts for 13.3% of the group's operations. In the course of the fiscal year's first quarter, begun on 1st July, Men Casual sales declined by nearly 4% at constant exchange rates, reaching HKD507 million, equivalent to just €60 million. Sales for Collection Men, the more urban, formal menswear line, fell by 15.4%, barely reaching HKD111 million, equivalent to €13 million.