Les cahiers de Intima - Lycra - (Page 5)
LYCRA® fibre 50 years of value and partnership
Golden Lady’s Remarkable Success Story
From a company’s beginnings to its success, from its philosophy to its product culture and its synergy with LYCRA® fibre , Golden Lady Company Chairman Nerino Grassi tells the Cahiers d’Intima how the company conquered the greatest international markets over the last decades.
In 1966, Arnaldo and Nerino Grassi created Golden Lady, a firm destined to become one of the greatest successes in the hosiery history. From its beginnings until today, through the acquisition of other Italian hosiery factories (Omsa, 1979; Sisi, 1987; Filodoro, 2004), Golden Lady has led the Italian hosiery market since the 1980’s and has become a European leader since 1997, with headquarters and branches in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Eastern Europe. The products from the Golden Lady Group were already available in retail and big box stores when it successfully launched in 2002 its very first chain of monobrand stores. The Golden Point project, as it was called, includes 800 stores as of the end of 2009. Golden Lady Company Chairman Nerino Grassi remembers the key points that brought the company to the top of the international hosiery market and reveals Golden Lady’s exclusive projects, objectives and priorities. What are Golden Lady’s key markets today? Italy, followed by Germany, France and Spain. We are growing in Eastern Europe, including Russia. We have a good position in the United States where the No-Nonsense brand, part of the KaiserRoth corporation which Golden Lady acquired in 1999, leads in big box stores. We are also present in department stores through the Hue brand. On top of that, we are also the official distributors for Calvin Klein and produce the Marks & Spencer private label. How was the successful Golden Lady and LYCRA® fibre partnership born and developed over the years? We were among the first hosiery producers to invest in LYCRA® fibre in 1970. We recognized the “extra” elasticity, stability and durability that brought an added value to our products. From the 40 denier socks, our best-selling article, to the Repose, the market’s leader in the economic field, and all our other best selling products, LYCRA® fibre has guaranteed our success and has played a key part in achieving product excellence. Let’s not forget to mention INVISTA’s collaboration in research and innovation to develop avant-garde products. All these reasons explain why Golden Lady, throughout its history, has always preferred LYCRA® to other fibres even though the prices were more competitive. How does your company responds to today’s great changes? The R&D is the ultimate ticket to rejuvenate a hosiery sector that has had a deadlock for much too long a time. Product research today is not enough. Research has to cover all fields and all sectors, at all levels, from the fabrics, spinning and texturing to the finished product, dyeing, and the machinery. That’s what we’ve always done at Golden Lady. The production is supervised every step of the way on the internal management level and remains flexible. We are equipped to produce in great volume at a speed higher than our competitors’. We adapt to the market’s quantitative needs because our main goal is not to fill up the stores but to help them do business. Today, the sector needs a new generation of products that answer the “personalized” demands of widely diverse women, observed in individual cases by the market research. It is in that direction that Golden Lady, with the LYCRA® fibre partnership, continues to progress with its brands, thanks to patented machinery, to get a product that meets the consumer’s definite needs of appearance, manufacturing and above all, comfort and fit.
Golden Lady in Figures
● A 400 million Euro turnover in 2009 (53% Italy; 47% abroad) ● A 53% market share in Italy with 5 brands (Golden Lady, Omsa, Sisi, Filodoro, Philippe Matignon) ● A $ 250 million turnover in the United States ● 26% share in the United States, in the classic pantyhose segment, in the food/drug/mass channel, with the No-nonsense brand ● 5 Golden Lady production factories in Italy 1 Golden Lady production factory in Serbia ● 800 monobrand Golden Point stores by the end of 2009
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Les cahiers de Intima - Lycra
Cover
Contents
Making Fashion History with LYCRA® Fibre
The LYCRA® Fibre MOVES Event in Verona
Golden Lady’s Remarkable Success Story
Hosiery The “Lipstick” Factor
What Legwear with LYCRA® Fibre Can Do For You!
Expanding the LYCRA® Fibre Legwear Portfolio
Legwear Trends Autumn-Winter 2011-2012
Three Into One Does Go!
Introducing 50 Years of Superior Quality Products
Courtaulds Goes - For The Ultimate!
Les cahiers de Intima - Lycra
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