Like-for-like sales in the last fiscal year improved by 43.4% compared to the previous year, while the online channel accounted for €13 million in revenues, a figure consistent with the 2020-2021 fiscal year.

In terms of its retail network, the company closed the year last February with 348 stores (six more than a year earlier) and a presence in 19 markets.

Antonio Puente appointed CEO

During the presentation of annual results for the 2021-2022 financial year, chairwoman of the Spanish company, Adriana Domínguez, announced some changes to the board of directors. At the general shareholders’ meeting, Puente was appointed executive director and CEO, a position previously held by the executive chairwoman herself.

“We are both directors, I am an executive director, and we are appointing Antonio. I am executive chairwoman, and I will continue to hold the same position I have with the same responsibilities. We will continue working as we have been doing up to now, but Antonio will add something new: he will join the board and become CEO, which will give him the opportunity to advocate the company’s projects for the coming years with a voice and a vote,” stressed Domínguez.

Domínguez will continue to serve as president of the group but will focus on the strategy and future of the company, while Puente will manage the company’s day-to-day operations.

Domínguez detailed the company’s plan to bring its production closer to home. “Approximately 20% of our production has been brought closer to Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Morocco, and 26% of the collection already has sustainability certificates.”

As for today’s global situation, inflation, and rising energy and transport costs, the executives have ruled out price increases for the time being. “We have other levers that we can still activate, such as the volume of production to suppliers,” they said. Regarding the war in Ukraine, they commented that the Spanish company is not present in the country, although it did operate in Russia in the multi-brand channel. They stressed that they currently do not ship to the country, “which represents a very small percentage of sales.” 

With Mexico and Japan as its second and third largest markets behind Spain, Adolfo Domínguez highlighted its intention to continue growing in international markets. “But we want to grow not only for expansion, but also for profitability. The focus is not only on being bigger, but also on making our stores more productive,” stated Puente.

The company is celebrating its 25th anniversary as a listed company, which prevents it from releasing sales forecast figures for the 2022-2023 financial year, although its president did say: “We are optimistic. It could be a year of recovery.”

Adolfo Domínguez is also commemorating the 40th anniversary of its iconic slogan ‘Wrinkles are beautiful’, which marks, at least from an emotional standpoint, the strategy to be followed by the fashion brand.

“We want to retrieve what Adolfo Domínguez was in the 80s, when it dressed ‘La Transición’. With our slogan ‘Wrinkles are beautiful’ as a backdrop, we seek to redefine beauty. An increasingly more fluid definition, and our latest fashion shows have been exemplary of those values that we live by,” concluded the company’s president.

Eva Gracia con EFE