According to Fashion Network, Italy-headquartered international swimwear brand Arena, owned by Swiss investment company Capvis since 2014 and celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023, has reported historic financial results for 2022. The company generated record sales of €141 million, up 45 percent from 2021 and up 13 percent from before the Covid-19 pandemic, which temporarily caused the company’s sales to plummet due to lockdowns and bans. The company said that the value of orders placed for spring/summer 2023 was 33 percent higher than for the previous year’s S/S season.
In 2022, Arena’s sales grew across all markets, distribution channels and product categories: Training swimwear, the brand’s core business, grew 38 percent; swim accessories were up 32 percent; beachwear +24 percent; and competition swimwear +14 percent.
Arena saw the strongest growth in the U.S., where sales increased 54 percent over 2021. Sales in Europe were up 42 percent, and the other regions combined were up 42 percent as well. Arena’s main market remains France, followed by Italy and the U.S., the latter growing rapidly.
Arena’s e-commerce sales grew 71 percent in Europe in 2022 and accounted for 25 percent of Arena’s total sales. This includes sales generated by Zalando, Amazon and Swim Outlet, as well as sales from Arena’s own web store.
For its anniversary year, Arena launched a new branding campaign, Planet Water. “Planet Water reflects an evolution of the brand’s previous ‘Water Instinct’ mantra and celebrates the essential element that unites us – both as people and as lovers of water sports,” explained Kamila Pilwein, global marketing director. “The new campaign highlights this common bond and makes living in and around water a lifestyle. We are united by water.” The Planet Water omnichannel campaign was shot in Barcelona in September 2022 and features many of Arena’s elite team athletes and lifestyle brand ambassadors, including David Popovici, Nicolo Martinenghi, Jessica Long, Sarah Sjöström and Natalie Hinds.
For more on Arena, read our recent interview with Arena CEO Peter Graschi.
