Aritzia: Stitching a New Story in Menswear
By: Allison Wang & Shalin Ratti
The Ivey Business Review is a student publication conceived, designed and managed by Honors Business Administration students at the Ivey Business School.
Aritzia, founded in 1984 by Brian Hill, has become a powerhouse in women's fashion, known for its signature brands like Wilfred, Babaton, and TNA. With 119 boutiques across North America, the company is all about "Everyday Luxury," offering high-quality, stylish pieces for any occasion. Aritzia’s focus on unique shopping experiences has fueled impressive growth, with revenue soaring more than 150% over the past five years, reaching CA$2.3 billion in 2024. Now, the company is ready to take on a new challenge—menswear.
Dressing for Success or Misfitting the Market? The Fine Line of Expansion
As the company continues to open new stores, Aritzia’s aggressive growth efforts could mask a deeper issue—its recent sales and marketing strategies.
In 2023, Aritzia made a significant decision to launch its first-ever digital marketing campaign. This new approach, aimed to expand its reach and connect with new consumer bases, marked a shift in the brand's strategy. While this may have been an attempt to modernize, it coincided with a period of slowed growth. Sales growth plummeted from an impressive 46% between 2022 and 2023 to a mere 6% the following year.
The company has since increased its cadence of heavy discounts, including its first-ever “archive sale” in 2023, with markdowns as deep as 80%. While the archive sale may have resulted from the influx of inventory ordered during COVID-19, the markdown decision risks diluting the brand’s premium appeal. The financial strain is not limited to markdowns. A 14% surge in Selling, General & Administrative expenses have been reported alongside a 39% YoY drop in net income over the same time period. While Aritzia invests in reaching new customers, whether the strategy is paying off is unclear. Instead, these increased expenses may eat away at profitability, forcing the company to walk a fine line between growth and diluting its premium brand image.
Aritzia’s rapid expansion into the U.S. may face significant hurdles if this strain continues. The company has relied heavily on opening new stores to drive growth, but this strategy is risky if it fails to maintain the same brand image that enabled previous success. If Aritzia cannot preserve its premium image, its new stores may not be able to sustain long-term sales growth. The challenge ahead is clear: regain control of the brand’s identity before the expansion to fuel its growth undermines its foundation.
Case Study #1: Abercrombie and Fitch: A Fashionable Tale
Abercrombie’s sales went into a freefall starting in 2012, falling from $4.5 billion down to $3.3 billion by 2016. By 2017, the apparel company knew it desperately needed to refresh its look away from a brand no longer resonating with its base. C-suite executives knew Abercrombie needed to refresh its look away from a brand no longer resonating with its base. Today’s Abercrombie is a refined brand, having replaced loud logos and nightclub-style stores with thoughtfully designed spaces and a modern, business-casual aesthetic. Now catering to a broader audience, the brand offers mature pieces for work and leisure. With this brand transformation, net sales bounced back to $4.3 billion by 2023, representing a 23% improvement since the start of Abercrombie’s brand transformation. Abercrombie’s strategic rebrand saved the company.
Despite some volatility in stock prices over the years, the stock’s trajectory since has moved generally upward, reflecting the rebrand’s effectiveness. By 2023, Abercrombie’s stock performance had become a standout success, with share prices increasing by more than 200% from January to December.
Abercrombie & Fitch’s successful reinvention is a crucial lesson for Aritzia as it expands into menswear, emphasizing the importance of evolving without diluting core brand values. Overreliance on women’s fashion or frequent discounts could dilute Aritzia’s premium image. Like Abercrombie, which shifted to a broader, more inclusive audience for business-casual style, Aritzia can use menswear to diversify and strengthen its brand. By tapping into the men’s market, Aritzia can enable growth without relying on heavily discounting and saturating its women’s line.
Case Study #2: Lululemon Suits Up: Stretching Into Menswear
In 2014, Lululemon launched a dedicated men's line despite skepticism that the brand, known for women’s yoga apparel, would struggle to attract male customers. Subsequently, Lululemon opened its first standalone men’s store, aiming to carve out space for male shoppers. However, by 2019, the standalone stores closed, signalling a shift in strategy.
Despite the store closures, Lululemon’s men’s line continued to thrive by selling women’s and men's apparel alongside each other. The company’s 2018 Annual Report highlighted how the “technical rigour and premium quality” of its men’s products won over male shoppers. By 2021, the brand's Net Promoter Score for male shoppers had surpassed that of female shoppers. As of 2022, Lululemon’s men’s business was growing faster than its women’s line. In 2023, menswear represented 23% of Lululemon’s total net revenue, now considered a “key pillar” of its growth plans. Lululemon’s test-and-learn strategy revealed that men’s and women’s co-located, rather than independent, was the more effective way to drive growth in men’s business.
Like Lululemon, Aritzia positions itself above mass-market retailers but just below luxury brands, offering a blend of style and quality. For Lululemon, the initial skepticism about its foray into menswear has faded. What started as an experiment has become critical to Lululemon’s success. The brand continues to sell men’s apparel alongside its women’s line in integrated stores, utilizing its strong brand identity to appeal to a broader consumer base.
The (Un)tapped Market: A Tailored Opportunity.
Menswear isn’t exactly new for Aritzia. The company made its first strategic move in October 2019 by releasing the Mr. Super Puff, which gained substantial traction and established a foothold with male shoppers. Two years later, Aritzia acquired the parent company of Reigning Champ for approximately CA$63.0 million, a men’s clothing brand specializing in premium athletic wear. However, Aritzia has yet to make forward-facing changes to its own brand. They must use this acquisition to explore brand integration and new private-label brands to capitalize on the menswear market and customers.
From Sketch to Store: Aritzia’s Menswear Playbook
Laying the Foundation - A Solid Fit for Fashion
Aritzia’s entrance into men’s fashion should capitalize on its ongoing boutique expansion, ownership of Reigning Champ, and the idea of in-house product lines. Similar to how Aritzia’s women’s line features diverse brands catering to various lifestyles, the company should incorporate this philosophy into their menswear by integrating Reigning Champ and introducing private-label men's lines.
With U.S. stores experiencing strong traction and surpassing payback projections of 12-18 months, the company has a unique opportunity to allocate floor space to feature the Reigning Champ brand and an exclusive Aritzia men's line.
Tailored Tactics: Aritzia’s Strategy for Menswear
One of Aritzia’s early strategies was to capitalize on an existing, under-reached market: the men already in their stores. The “boyfriend couches" have become a subtle but effective way to immerse men in the Aritzia experience. With a visible volume of male foot traffic already present in-store, Aritzia has an untapped demographic draw towards their new men’s line. Like Lululemon, Aritzia should “carve out a space” for its men’s shoppers without opening unprofitable stand-alone stores while not alienating its core market. Instead, Aritzia should bring attention to their men’s line by launching their menswear in a segmented and intentionally designed portion of the store to take advantage of foot traffic without replacing current selections. Seasonal brands in the “More from Aritzia,” including TheSuperPuff and Little Moon, provide an opportunity for menswear to be implemented.
To effectively market Aritzia’s new menswear line, the strategy should take advantage of the brand's established, high-paying clientele. Many current customers are habitual shoppers who appreciate Aritzia’s premium and exclusive feel, making them a prime audience for the menswear launch. By inviting these loyal clients and the men in their lives to an exclusive shopping event for the menswear debut, complete with personalized emails or offers, Aritzia can increase visibility for the new line. Cross-selling opportunities, like matching sets or complementary “his & hers” looks, can further enhance the appeal and reinforce Aritzia’s brand as a luxurious shopping experience. This approach generates both excitement and a sense of exclusivity, strengthening the brand’s premium image.
The Long-Term Sew-solution
Aritzia’s enduring competitive edge lies in its overall shopping experience. Their boutiques are known for being thoughtfully designed with open spaces, custom architecture, and intentional layouts that guide shoppers through the store in a natural yet curated way. Store associates, known as “stylists,” further enhance the customer experience, offering personalized recommendations that add a high-touch element to the shopping process. Maintaining this atmosphere when implementing menswear will be key to making the launch feel integrated. The exclusivity of the brand’s designs and the allure of an immersive, boutique-style shopping experience will help Aritzia stand out in an increasingly competitive menswear landscape.
Looking at the long term, Aritzia can evolve how it organizes its stores entirely. Unlike stores such as Zara and H&M, which have gender-based divisions that create a disjointed shopping experience, Aritzia can continue to do what they’ve always done and design the layout according to lifestyle. This would allow customers to shop for clothes based on their activities or style preferences rather than gender. Distinctions, like colour-coded tags or subtle design cues, could keep men’s and women’s collections separate without physically dividing the store. This forward-thinking approach would allow Aritzia to retain the signature customer experience while expanding into new demographics seamlessly.
The Final Stitch: Can Aritzia’s Menswear Make the Cut?
Aritzia’s entry into menswear is not just another expansion—it's a strategic evolution that builds on the company’s strengths while embracing new opportunities. With its legacy of creating a premium, boutique-style shopping experience, Aritzia is uniquely positioned to provide a differentiated and winning product. The company’s ability to craft a personalized, curated shopping experience will translate well to a menswear line if handled with the same attention to detail.
Aritzia's plan to integrate menswear into existing stores rather than relying on standalone outlets is an effective and resource-efficient strategy. By utilizing the already-present male foot traffic and creating a seamless shopping experience that appeals to both men and women, Aritzia can build on its existing brand equity. Reigning Champ’s acquisition is an excellent foundation for understanding the men's market, which will be instrumental in crafting a line that resonates with its target audience.
In the broader business landscape, Aritzia’s move into menswear capitalizes on a massive market segment while maintaining the brand’s commitment to "Everyday Luxury." Much like Lululemon's triumphant entry into menswear, this expansion has the potential to drive significant growth. By staying true to its roots while innovating how people shop, Aritzia is set to make its mark on the men’s fashion scene without diluting its core brand identity.
