Spanish fashion retail giant Mango is continuing its run of strong results and on Monday reported sales for 2024 of €3.339 billion. That was 7.6% higher than 2023, and at constant exchange rates, sales grew by 11.6%, above the market average.

And how did it do profits-wise last year? Rather well. Net profit rose 27% to €219 million, EBITDA increased 19% year on year to €636 million and the gross margin reached 60.7%.

Its sales growth came as its expansion programme carried on at its previous fast pace with more new stores than ever in markets including the US, UK, Spain, Italy and others.

Mango’s international business accounts for 78% of total revenue and the countries with the highest turnover continue to be led by Spain, France, Turkey, Germany and the US, closely followed by Italy, the UK and Portugal.

It has an ongoing plan to expand its shops in the US in particular, one of its top five markets. It will open more than 60 stores between 2024 and 2025 after its return to the country with its first flagship store in New York in 2022.

But it’s not just about physical stores as the online channel contributed a third of the company’s sales with a turnover of around €1.1 billion last year.

Since 2019, the company has increased its revenues by 40%, above the average for the sector. Mango has clearly been growing strongly but remains Spain’s second-largest fashion retail business behind its peer Inditex. However, it has ambitions to get much bigger with a target of €400 million in sales by 2026 compared to the €3.339 billion 2024 figure.

The sales figures obviously benefitted from its new stores, but its heavy investment expenditure would have dented profits, although the spend should pay off on the profits front long term. In fact, 2024 saw the highest investment in Mango’s history, 17% more than the previous year, mainly allocated to the opening and refurbishment of all those stores, as well as to technological innovations, the expansion of its logistics capacity and the Mango Campus.

It spent over €219 million on 260+ store openings in 2024, to reach more than 2,800 stores in over 120 markets around the world.

It also launched elevated collections and a key collaboration with Victoria Beckham. And it said this paid off as all business lines developed favourably last year as Man and Kids & Teen “recorded strong growth and increased their proportion of total turnover”. Yet Mango Woman remains the driving force of its sales, accounting for 79% of the business.

But it was a tough year in some ways too with the business losing its founder Isak Andic in an accident in December.

So the rumours turned out to be true with recent weeks suggesting that the successor to Luke and Lucie Meier at OTB’s Jil sander would be Simone Bellotti. On Monday, the company announced him as its new creative director with immediate effect.

Bellotti takes the creative helm following his tenure in the same role at Bally, where we’re told “he brought fresh perspective and artistic influence”. 

And he seems to have the right profile for the famously minimalist-with-a-twist label with his previous experience mixing in Italian megabrands and Antwerp cool, as well as Bally.

Raised in Milan, he moved to Antwerp and the company said he “was instantly embraced into a dynamic fold of radical creatives”. 

That’s more than mere hyperbole with his career so far spanning positions at AF Vandervorst, Gianfranco Ferré, Dolce & Gabbana, and Bottega Veneta, as well as a 16-year tenure at Gucci. 

Jil sander also said Bellotti has “developed a keen obsession for detail, interpreting archival references with innovative directions. A passion for research informs Simone’s eye, as he draws on art, photography, and music for inspiration”.

Renzo Rosso, chairman of OTB Group, added: “Simone embarks on this journey with extensive experience and a distinct talent. Over the time spent together we shared the strategic vision and mission for Jil Sander, the values of innovation and sophistication that make it an iconic and unique brand.”

OTB has owned Jil Sander since 2021 and it currently has around 70 boutiques, as well as a webstore and a presence in selected multibrand retailers.

Selfridges continues to be the launchpad of choice for many luxury brands, particularly those planning something eye-catching or out of the ordinary.

And this season, Sergio Tacchini is celebrating its SS25 collection launch at the retailer’s London flagship by wrapping its DeLorean car in black velour and a print inspired by the brand’s Slice Track Jacket.

The design blends the brand’s heritage with new designs, focusing attention the label’s “timeless aesthetic within sportswear”.

Beyond the jacket, the collection features other reimagined classics alongside Selfridges exclusive pieces, including printed shirts and cotton jackets with bold prints. 

The brand said the launch at the store (and on Selfridges’ webstore) “reinforces Sergio Tacchini’s commitment to blending retro inspiration with contemporary style”.

It’s an ongoing link between the label and the retailer and it’s not the first time Sergio Tacchini has opened a pop-up there.

Back in summer 2023, it opened a tennis-themed pop-up, dubbed Causing a Racquet. It went for a mix of tennis and Italian references with marble-effect oversized tennis rackets, tennis balls, Roman statues, and broken columns creating a ‘Roman ruins’ atmosphere.

The almost-60-year-old company, which was previously owned by American funds Twin Lakes Capital and B Riley Principal Investments, became part of the business empire of billionaire Kim Chang-Soo in summer 2022, via his South Korean clothing group F&F Holdings.