Bench accords its first fashion licence to a subsidiary of Otto

By

Bruno Joly

Published
Oct 7, 2015

Bench is becoming a little bit more German. The English streetwear brand, acquired in 2014 by Munich investment fund Emeram Capital Partners and whose emblematic German CEO, Bruno Sälzer, is expanding its swimwear offer to bottoms and socks for men, women and children by according a licence to Lascana, an underwear specialist from German distribution giant Otto. Until now, Bench only had one licenced seller and this for perfume.

Lascana will also be directly responsible for the distribution, essentially through its own multibrand stores and its e-commerce sites, it stated in a press release, but also through other online Otto platforms and Bench stores.

The first collection, after a test performed via the group's catalogues, will be that of spring/summer 2016. Distribution will start with the eight European countries where Lascana is present. 10 million dollars in revenue is expected as of the first year. As for Bench, it generates 220 million euros in retail sales in 34 countries. At the time of its acquisition, consolidated revenue of approximately 120 million euros was being mentioned.

Otto launched the Lascana concept in 2006. Dedicated to bodywear and beachwear, the on and offline chain offers its own brad line as well as brands under licence, such as Chiemsee, S. Oliver and Venice Beach.

Au cours du premier semestre de son exercice actuel, Lascana a réalisé un chiffre d'affaires de 88 millions d'euros et ouvert son site de e-commerce aux marchés tchèque, hongrois, britannique, autrichien, suisse et slovaque.