Zadig & Voltaire Sales Jump Amid Accelerated U.S. Push
PARIS — French contemporary brand Zadig & Voltaire’s U.S. sales skyrocketed in the third quarter, the brand reported in a trading update.
The company reported sales in the U.S. were up 49 percent year-over-year in the three months from July 1 to Sept. 30. The sales numbers come as the company has made a play to expand its footprint there, opening splashy flagships on North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills and Madison Avenue in New York in October. The Madison Avenue flagship is the brand’s second store on the famed shopping street.
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The brand has doubled its U.S. doors since 2017 to a total of 38 branded stores, 27 stand-alone boutiques and 11 outlet stores across the country. Zadig & Voltaire also has corners in 27 Bloomingdale’s stores.
Sales across the EU were also strong, ringing up an additional 21.4 percent in the third quarter. The company also opened a flagship on this side of the pond, staking its claim in London’s new Battersea Power Station in October.
Globally, Zadig & Voltaire reported sales are up 32 percent in the first nine months of 2022 to Sept. 30.
The rock-chic label has been repositioning itself and emphasizing its French roots under designer Cecilia Bönström. After several seasons of showing in New York, it returned to to Paris for an off-calendar show in June and will continue to show in its home city going forward.
The brand chalks up much of this growth to its new branding strategy, focusing on the high end of the high street with a price point of around 350 euros to 400 euros and the aggressive expansion of its accessories offer.
“This result stems from the strong branding strategy we deployed starting June 2022 and the affirmation of our ‘effortless luxury’ status. From this starting point, we engaged in putting creativity, brand reputation and visibility at the heart of Zadig & Voltaire’s strategy,” said director of communication and image Jordan Henrion. Much of that effort has focused on TikTok, and outreach to younger consumers on social media.
The brand said global social reach has jumped 342 percent in the U.S. and 206 percent in the EU in the second half of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021. The company aggregated numbers from ad spending as well as social VIP and influencers of Meta, Twitter and TikTok in figures as measured by Launchmetrics and influencer marketing platform Kolsquare.
In a financial plan laid out in 2021, the company’s focus had largely been on expansion in China. At the time chief executive officer Rémy Baume laid out an ambitious growth plan for 2022 to 2025, including a major push in China after it bought back its stake from former partner IT Group in 2020. It opened its first revamped store in Hong Kong on June 16.
Those plans have been hampered due to the rolling shutdowns the country faced as part of its now-defunct zero-COVID-19 policy.
“Given the situation in China over the last months, we are for now focusing on Europe and America,” a spokesperson said.
The company will release full financial results in January. It has scheduled its next Paris fashion show the day after the official Haute Couture week closes on Jan. 27.
