Gerry Weber to discontinue Talkabout brand
German fashion brand Gerry Weber is to discontinue its youngest label Talkabout as it looks to focus on its core brands.
Launched in 2016, Talkabout was developed exclusively for wholesale customers and is positioned in a niche between mainstream and contemporary. The brand has about 170 customers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Benelux as well as in Budapest and Prague. The last collection will be delivered in February 2019.
Johannes Ehling, Gerry Weber chief executive designate, said: “In view of the economic challenges facing our company, we are pooling our forces and will focus on our core business to be successful in the long term. This is why we have decided to discontinue the youngest brand of the Gerry Weber Group.”
Gerry Weber said Talkabout’s employees have already been told of the plans and that most of them will be employed elsewhere in the group.
Ehling added: “We would like to thank the entire Talkabout team, most importantly product manager Viktoria Simeoni, for the commitment they have shown during the market launch of the label. Although great progress has been achieved in the market and the team have done a great job, we are currently unable to further build up our youngest brand.”
The group’s core brands include Gerry Weber, Taifun, Samoon and Hallhuber.
The Talkabout label was Gerry Weber’s first pure wholesale brand with a fully vertically integrated monthly collection and customised merchandise management system for specialist retailers. The system will now be used for the Gerry Weber, Taifun and Samoon brands starting next year.
Ehling added: “The new merchandise management system, which reflects the new monthly sales intervals, also responds to the changes in our markets and the strongly changing purchasing behaviour of our customers.”
