PARIS – French fashion group SMCP’s continued regional realignment, full-price strategy and brand upscaling drive delivered a 2.5 percent bump in organic third-quarter revenues to 294 million euros.
Much of that was driven by the U.S., where sales for parent of Sandro and Maje were up 10.5 percent.
“The positive momentum observed in the first semester was confirmed in the third quarter. I am particularly proud of our performance in America and EMEA, where growth remains very strong. In France, we continue to demonstrate solid resilience and outperform the rest of the market in a highly complex politico-economic environment,” SMCP chief executive officer Isabelle Guichot said in a statement.
“In Asia, while the network optimization in China continues to impact sales, our efforts are beginning to bear fruit, with a return to like-for-like growth in our physical network,” she added.
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Asia dragged, where sales were down 10.7 percent on an organic basis in the region, reflecting an ongoing network realignment that saw 65 stores in China shutter last year. Those closings have continued to weigh on volumes, but the company said that slowdown was anticipated as it fine-tunes its positioning there to move from mass to accessible luxury perception.
However, the group said store performance in China returned to mid-single-digit growth in the quarter, with like-for-like sales up despite the closing of two additional retail outposts.
“In the rest of the region, sales remained resilient, with a positive trend particularly in Malaysia and Thailand, and a good start in recently opened countries such as India and Indonesia,” Guichot noted.
In the key market of South Korea, SMCP has joined forces with Samsung group, which distributes luxury brands including Balmain, Ganni, Jacquemus, Lemaire, and Thom Browne. That deal will see Samsung distribute SMCP’s brands starting with spring 2026 collections.
SMCP said it continued to pursue a full-price strategy globally, reducing its average discount rate by three points compared with 2024.
“In line with our strategic plan, we have continued across all regions to strengthen the desirability of our brands, enabling us to maintain our full-price strategy. Building on this progress, we approach the end of the year with confidence in our ability to sustain this trajectory, in a market that nevertheless remains uncertain,” Guichot said.
Europe saw sales rise 8.3 percent, except its home country of France where sales slid just under one percent year-over-year. The company cited the ongoing political and economic crisis in the country, particularly in September, with parliament unable to reach a budget agreement. Still, SMCP indicated that physical stores performed better, with a “rebound after the 2024 Olympic Games” in Paris, while digital sales were hit by the full-price strategy.
In Europe, there were seven net closings during the quarter, in line with the strategy.
Like-for-like growth reached 3.2 percent, supported by physical stores in all regions, continuing the group’s incremental recovery.
The group, which has pushed forward in new regions to offset its China drawdown, opened its first point of sale in the country of Georgia, and expanded across the Balkans as well as Egypt.
Looking at sales by brand, Sandro and Maje continued to be its leaders, with sales up 9 percent and 7 percent, respectively, in the third quarter. The company has been working to upscale these brands with tighter design direction, premium materials and bigger marketing spends.
Sandro has worked to associate with art, through partnership with artists such as Louise Bourgeois, and splashy Paris Fashion Week presentations at France’s National Library and Musée Bourdelle, as well as its support of Marseille’s non-profit fashion incubator Maison Mode Méditerranée.
Maje has strengthened its celebrity dressing program, resulting in coups like Kerry Washington and Lady Gaga, who wore a look on stage in London recently.
Sales at Claudie Pierlot were down 4 percent as the brand has shuttered stores and will attempt a realignment with the shortened moniker Claudie under new CEO Anne Cottin, who took the reins in June. Its men’s brand Fursac also saw sales fall 3 percent in the quarter.
