Wacoal Buys Bravissimo

Lingerie on the Bravissimo website.

Wacoal’s European division, in late September, acquired the UK based Bravissimo underwear brand and chain of retail stores for 45,700,000 Great British Pounds (GBP, about $61.2 million at today’s exchange rates).

The Bravissimo Group, operates a website and 25 shops in the U.K., offering both intimates and swimwear. The company sells a variety of brands but “more than 40%” of sales are under its own label, stated Wacoal.

Bravissimo earned 2,468,000 GBP (about $3.3 million) in the fiscal year ended October 2023 on sales of 58,032,000 GBP (about $77.7 million), but only 773,000 GBP (about $1.0 million) on similar sales of 58,160,000 in the previous year, revealed the announcement.

Japan-based parent company Wacoal Holdings Corp. noted that it has “been repeatedly considering the creation of new business opportunities in order to achieve steady growth in key markets in the U.K., the U.S., and China,” to “transform into a highly profitable structure by optimizing the supply chain,” adding that “maintaining and improving our dominant position in the large-size product market, which is growing beyond the average market growth rate” has been a key consideration.

Wacoal explained that “by welcoming the Bravissimo Group as a member of our group,” Wacoal Europe, will now able to “analyze sales results and consumer information more quickly than ever before, thereby improving operational efficiency in the supply chain. On the contrary, we believe the Bravissimo Group will also be able to make efficient utilize of Wacoal Europe’s wholesale network in order for the brand Bravissimo to enter the international market.”

Wacoal concluded that “By adding the new Bravissimo brand, we believe it will not only enable Wacoal to establish a dominant position in the large-cup size market, but will also strengthen the position by incorporating both of capabilities for the design, manufacture, and distribution of lingerie and swimwear in the future.”