London based luxury shoe brand Manolo Blahnik has become the latest well known name in the sector to feel the impact of the global downturn in high end fashion spending.
The Mayfair headquartered family owned business, said turnover fell 10% to Euros 106.5 million (£91 million) in 2023 while pre-tax profits were down almost a third at Euros21.9 million.
However, the company, created by the Spanish born designer in 1972, described the results as “robust” and “the second best” in its history.
In a statement the company said that “as a result of the ongoing macro-economic and geopolitical headwinds in the market” it “continues to carefully manage costs whilst progressing its strategic global investment plans which are focused on an anticipated return of consumer confidence in 2025.”
The company also gave new details of its international expansion plans with three stores scheduled to open in Hong Kong this year, and its first mainland China outlet launching in Shanghai at the end of 2024.”
It is also targetting store openings in Miami Design District and Milan.
CEO Kristina Blahnik, the niece of the founder, said: “As expected, in 2023 our performance rebalanced off the back of an extraordinary year of sales and consumer demand in 2022, and in light of the challenging macro-economic and geo-political environment. Against this backdrop, however, we are pleased to still be reporting a strong performance in our second-best year ever in line with our business plan.”
She added there will be “a continued readjustment to pre-COVID demand” in 2024, and said the company has been using the period of transition to restructure.
