L-Fashion Group and Oberalp have decided to put an end to a 5-year-old distribution agreement for the Icepeak brand on the Italian market, and the Finnish company is now setting up its own subsidiary in the country for Icepeak as well as its other sports brands, including Luhta and Rukka. Oberalp relinquished Luhta’s distribution more than 10 years ago, and this more expensive brand of the Finnish group has not been on the market in Italy for several years.
L-Fashion’s new Italian operations will be run by Federica Calgaro, who will be responsible for sales and marketing of all the brands. This 44-year-old executive has worked for 10 years with Easton-Bell Sports, with an interruption of one year when she took care of European sales for Sugoi’s bikewear. She has been managing director of Easton-Bell Sports Europe for the last three years. Her successor in this position has not been appointed yet.
The site of Luhta’s new Italian subsidiary and of its showroom have not yet been determined, and Oberalp will continue to take care of invoicing and after-sale services for Icepeak’s spring/summer 2011 collection through September 2011. Meanwhile, Calgaro will be setting up separate sales networks for Icepeak, Luhta and Rukka’s collection of garments for motorcycling. The rest of Rukka’s product range will be introduced at a later stage.
L-Fashion is expecting a sales increase of around 10 percent this year, with a 15 percent hike for its sports brands alone. The Finnish group reached sales of €223.5 million in 2009, up from €208.5 million the year before. Earnings grew sharply to €10.3 million from €3.7 million.
