BERLIN — After a long absence, Hugo Boss is returning to Pitti Uomo to stage a Hugo runway show for spring 2018.
The Hugo show at Pitti Imagine Uomo on June 13 will feature both men’s and women’s wear on the runway. “Hugo has always been our more progressive brand. And we wanted to showcase the creativity of both Hugo men’s and women’s wear,” commented Ingo Wilts, chief brand officer of Hugo Boss. Pitti, he added, “is the ideal setting for showing innovations in fashion and for presenting the brand to a relevant audience of buyers and press.”
The upcoming Hugo show in Florence also underscores the German fashion house’s recently realigned brand portfolio and strategy. The offer now consists of the premium Boss core brand of men’s and women’s wear to cover all wardrobe needs, be it business, more casual, sportive or after hours; and the younger, edgier as well as approximately 30 percent less expensive Hugo men’s and women’s wear collection.
The last show Hugo Boss staged in Florence was a Boss Orange show in 2008. In July, Hugo Boss shifted gears with a men’s-only show during New York Fashion Week: Men’s last July, which departed from previous management’s Boss women’s runway focus. It also served as a fashion-driven “wake-up call” for the company’s main sales generator, Boss men’s wear, and similarly, the Hugo show could also help create what Wilts has termed a “big bang effect” for the younger brand. It is also expected to illustrate a more casually packed Hugo fashion orientation.
To reach the brand’s “digitally switched-on consumers,” Hugo’s communication strategy is now focusing on online and social media activities. In the new digitally led Hugo ad campaign for spring 2017 shot by Harley Weir, up-and-comers from the worlds of art, music, film and fashion including musician Soko, model Anwar Hadid and entrepreneur Luka Sabbat have been tapped to embody the Hugo attitude.