SuperGroup makes play for sports fashion market with rugby and ski ranges

The fashion group has developed a skiwear range for its Superdry label and is currently sampling rugby clothing.

Dunkerton said there was an opportunity to both wholesale the skiwear range and open stores in ski resorts.

He said: “If successful, we can use it as a cash-making marketing tool in Europe. When you’re in [ski resorts like] Kitzbuhel or Chamonix your adjacencies are huge brands. It’s good marketing.”

Dunkerton said it is putting together a rugby fashion range that it plans to sell in House of Fraser.

He said: “We get a lot of requests from rugby players who want to wear Superdry but it doesn’t fit. Everything in the market is overpriced. There’s a huge opportunity to capture a different demographic.”

The range would differ from rival Hackett as it will have a more “vintage and authentic feel” and would not have prominent Superdry branding.

Dunkerton said he was excited about the big changes in fashion trends and Superdry was primed to take advantage of this.

He said: “Fashion hasn’t done anything for a number of years in our sector. If you think about clothing for the past five years for guys it’s been simple, plain and classic. The market’s been waiting for [a change].”

He said the trend for printed clothing for men and for print and embellishment in womenswear had allowed it to revamp its core range of products from hoodies to shorts.

“It’s a trend that suits our company and will change our world,” he said.

Dunkerton said SuperGroup brand and design director James Holder was more excited than he had ever been about its new collection. “We’ve got these new tools to use,” he said.

SuperGroup revealed that underlying pre-tax profit increased 18.8% to £62m in its year to April 26 and sales soared 19.6% to £430.9m. Retail sales increased 17.7% and like-for-likes jumped 3.2%.

The retailer plans to push ahead with opening 80,000 sq ft to 100,000 sq ft in its current year, including its first stores in Italy and Sweden.