Next year it will no longer be possible to go shopping in Uterqüe, but it will be possible to continue wearing their designs. As announced by Inditex this Wednesday, its physical and online stores will close definitively throughout 2022, but its garments and accessories will continue to be available in the establishments of Massimo Dutti, a chain that has supervised the development of Uterqüe since its launch in 2008. The end of the solo adventure of a brand that was born with a premium positioning and the intention of raising the image of the group that invented the low cost model, marks the second closure –although in this case partial– of the Galician conglomerate after the end of Often in 2006. Why has Uterqüe failed to meet expectations?
Originally conceived as a chain of quality complements and accessories –leather has always been the hallmark of the brand–, Uterqüe sought to become Inditex's most 'luxurious' and aspirational label. With prices that could triple those of Zara and much more personalized attention in stores and close to that of a mid-segment firm, the youngest of the Galician group's brands never accounted for more than 0.5% of turnover of the group (according to the results corresponding to the first half of the year, Uterqué contributed 0.4% of the 11,936 million euros in sales, which represents 48 million euros). Neither the incursion into the online channel in 2011 nor the launch that same year of a clothing line that over time was gaining more and more weight finished giving it the definitive push. And despite the fact that in 2019 it was the chain of the group that increased its income the most (14%), the health crisis and the absence of events and parties, segments towards which a large part of its clothing and accessories are oriented, has caused a drop in sales by 35%.
However, the Galician giant did not want to say goodbye completely to his youngest daughter. As confirmed by Inditex to S Moda, the absorption of its collections in Massimo Dutti stores will take place throughout 2022, although the exact date is yet to be determined. The group justifies this strategy as a way to expand Uterqüe's presence in markets where it did not have physical stores or electronic sales. While Uterqüe has 82 stores spread over 16 countries, Dutti has 668 establishments, being the chain with the most physical spaces only behind Zara and Pull & Bear. In the same way that in some countries the Zara Home collections are on sale in small corners integrated within Zara, Inditex intends to replicate that synergy between Uterqüe and Masimo Dutti so that the brand "continues serving its current clients and reaches a wider". A plan that must also be understood in the context of the group's commitment to reducing the number of physical stores, a movement that has been precipitated by the health crisis and that will mean the closure of between 1,000 and 1,200 points of sale (especially in its main markets, Spain and China).
The spirit of the brand's collections has turned from the minimalism of its beginnings to the commitment to color and current trends. Photo: DR
The target audience that Massimo Dutti now intends to reach is the one that the brand has been looking for since its inception. Although it has always been characterized by costume jewelery and special and eye-catching accessories, the clothing collections have been turning from quality basics with a minimalist air, a segment that the group had already covered with Dutti, towards a greater commitment to trend with an avant-garde point and daring designs for special occasions. That yes, -almost- always betting on an inspiration on the catwalk less obvious than in other brands of the Galician giant.
If you compare, for example, the autumn-winter collection that the brand launched in 2013 with the one it has just presented for this season, the difference is abysmal. The basic wardrobe pieces of the early days – gray wool dresses, white shirts or leather jackets dyed brown or black – have given way to pink dresses decorated with feathers, jumpsuits with large colored checks and striking fuchsia jumpers. A change of direction that has served to differentiate Uterqüe and bring it closer to a younger client interested in fashion, but that has not yet caught on. Perhaps it is not easy to convince someone to pay 99 euros for jewel shoes that are almost identically available at Zara at half price, even though the first ones are made in Spain, another of the tricks with which Uterqüe has sought to position itself as a firm with an abundant Made in Spain production.
On the left, jewel shoes from Uterqüe (99 euros). On the right, the Zara version (49.95 euros). Photo: DR
Its pricing policy is precisely another aspect that has been in a perennial spotlight. For some seasons now, it has been possible to see four-digit tags hanging from their coats in their stores. In the winter of 2019, for example, Uterqüe sold a jacket made of leather with lamb fur for 1,200 euros, a figure that is close to and may even exceed the cost of a designer coat. A declaration of intent that came to make it clear that an Inditex firm could also be aspirational, but that did not stop raising eyebrows.
During these twelve years of existence, its constant presence in the looks of Queen Letizia, one of its great ambassadors, should be highlighted. The brand's dresses, jackets and accessories are part of her wardrobe and she even dared to wear the tribal print jacket that Gala González made fashionable back in 2015. Caroline de Maigret, Emili Sindlev or Veronika Heilbrunner are other international influencers to which the brand has been linked, counting on them as the image of its campaigns. Did the brand's target audience identify with them? Probably not.
On the left, Queen Letizia with a Uterqüe jacket. On the right, Gala González wearing it in the campaign. Photo: Getty/DR
The goodbye to Uterqüe only has a precedent within the Galician group. In 2006 he said goodbye, although in this case definitively, to Often, a chain of men's clothing and accessories that had been born only three years earlier. The label, which was an "experiment, a test to expand the market segment and cover a wider audience", as Inditex explained at the time, depended directly on Pull & Bear and worked hand in hand with its management, sales and marketing team. design. The idea was to meet the needs of a more adult audience –between 25 and 45 years old– with collections designed for a man “especially urban and cosmopolitan”. However, the concept did not work. Despite the fact that he opened up to 40 stores in Spain and Portugal, three years after his birth Often became Amancio Ortega's first business failure. Inditex sold the stores to the businessman Julián Imaz, who would turn them into the now-defunct Friday's Project, but did not announce the closure of the chain as such, merely stating that they had decided "not to develop an experimental line of Pull & Bear ». We have to wait to find out if Uterqüe finds its place within Massimo Dutti.
Uterqüe or the latest from Gucci? Photo: DR
Tags: Inditex|Uterqüe
