G-III annual sales surge; reveals Donna Karan strategy, inks Nautica licensing deal

By

Benjamin Fitzgerald

Published
Mar 16, 2023

G-III Apparel Group Inc. announced on Thursday net sales for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2023 increased 16.6% to $3.23 billion, on the back of a double-digit uptick in fourth-quarter sales to end the year.

The New York-based fashion group saw quarterly sales increase 14.2% to $854.4 million, and reported a net loss for the fourth quarter of $261.1 million, or $5.54 per share, compared to a net income of $48.4 million, or $0.98 per diluted share, in the prior year’s quarter. 

The owner of Sonia Rykiel, Karl Lagerfeld and Donna Karan said net loss for the fiscal year came to $133.1 million, compared to net income of $200.6 million.

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“In fiscal year 2023, we made significant progress on our strategic priorities as we leveraged G-III’s expertise and agility to capture a number of opportunities, despite a challenging environment," said Morris Goldfarb, G-III’s chairman and chief executive officer.

"We successfully shifted our category focus based on market demand and expanded our brand ownership and global reach with our Karl Lagerfeld acquisition. For fiscal year 2023, we registered net sales of $3.23 billion, up 17% to the prior year and we reported non-GAAP net income per diluted share of $2.85.”

Goldfarb went on to announce his company's plan to re-position and expand the Donna Karan brand. Acquired by G-III in 2016, Donna Karan will be a focus for the group in 2023, and moving forward, will be distributed in "better" department stores, in "digital channels" and via "its own Donna Karan website in North America and internationally," said the company.

Moreover, the company also revealed a new long-term license with Authentic Brands Group for the fellow New Yorker's Nautica brand. Under the agreement, G-III will produce Nautica products across a number of categories, starting with jeans, which also includes a full range of corresponding product, before expanding into additional categories including sportswear, suit separates and dresses. The five-year license agreement, effective beginning in January 2024, includes three extensions, for five years each. 

"Donna Karan and Nautica are two of the most recognized American lifestyle brands with significant opportunity in the women’s space. Our track record of having successfully grown major brands to more than $3 billion in net sales today, gives us confidence in our ability to unlock the potential of both Donna Karan and Nautica," the CEO added.

“We are proud to partner with G-III as our new Nautica women’s partner,” said Jarrod Weber, group president lifestyle, chief brand officer, Authentic. “G-III has a proven track record of unparalleled expertise in product development across a range of categories with a well-established network of prominent retailers. We look forward to enhancing Nautica’s core offerings for women, an important consumer segment for the brand, in partnership with G-III, an industry leader.”