Who's the Boss?

Review your closet. Do you have what it takes to be the Boss? Here’s the checklist: a suit that fits you to a T; shoes that give you a powerful stride; and jeans that say you can roll with the punches. These, according to Gerrit Rützel, president and CEO of Hugo Boss Asia Pacific, are the three important things that any man worth his salt must have. 

And I totally agree.

Recently, a friend of mine requested that I make him over, and I immediately jotted down “suit or blazer jacket” on his to-buy list. While I’m currently still pushing him to make the purchase, I cannot stress enough that there’s definitely nothing like a suit that perfectly frames the body.

Barney Stinson of How I Met Your Mother has a longstanding love affair with the suit … and with good reason: “They make people feel that they’re impeccably dressed, and it empowers them. It makes them feel secure that they are making a modern fashion statement without sticking out in a negative way,” explains Rützel. Imagine: those fitted shoulders, that slick lapel, strategic vents, perfectly spaced buttons — they all work in tandem to make (or break) a man. And don’t even get me started on how most suit-clad men look possibly a thousand times more handsome in their trusty sets. Additional pogi points, indeed.

Gerrit Rützel, president and CEO of Hugo Boss Asia Pacific: “If you start with something as technical as the suit, you have more credibility to create something like jeans and a T-shirt.” Photo by FERNAN NEBRES

So what happens when enormous fashion label Boss, renowned for making the perfect suits, grows its business even further? Are we soon going to see a nation of more dapper-looking gentlemen? Possibly, yes. But an even more impressive development is more and more women are getting Boss-ed up as well. 

Equal opportunity …  and then some

While Boss originally started as a menswear line, it has since expanded its business and given more and more opportunities for men and women to look impeccably dressed. Now women wear signature Boss cuts and styles, allowing them to give the term “power dressing” a more stylish twist. Over the years Boss has also gotten “street cred” and made its way from boardrooms and formals to hip bashes and exciting events.

Under the umbrella brand Hugo Boss is an extensive list of sub-brands, each catering to a specific lifestyle niche. “We started with Boss Black, a classy, elegant line that was popular because of the suit. Now, however, we already have Boss Orange, which has a more casual-urban chic, made for a younger market. Then, Boss Green is an active sportswear line that is not only fashionable but also functional,” explains Rützel. “Hugo, our most fashion-forward and edgy line, is much like our designer label, and is made for the more fashion-forward customer. And finally, the Boss Selection is our most luxurious and elegant line, catering to our most demanding of customers.”

Fashionable and functional: Boss Green is an active sportswear line.

It’s all in the details

With their fine attention to detail, it seems like Boss’s transition into other style genres was both anticipated and applauded. “Originally, we started with the suit. But it was easy to develop from formalwear to casualwear,” explains Rützel. “If you start with something as technical as the suit — which is probably the most complicated of all menswear products — you have more credibility to create something like, say, jeans and a T-shirt.” It is therefore no surprise that pieces from their more casual lines showcase as much precision and skill as their formalwear.

And, it is this craftsmanship that the fashion-forward rely on. “While the suit is really what made us famous, we perfect the overall design of all our pieces,” says Rützel. “People appreciate the quality of a Boss item. They get a very reliable product at a good price, and most of our products are even worn for years.”

The Boss of Asia

With all the tycoons and fashion fans in Asia, it’s no wonder that Boss continues to secure spaces in closets across the region. “While we are also growing double-digits in the rest of the world, like a 16-percent growth in Europe and a 26-percent growth in the Americas, it is in Asia that we are experiencing the most growth,” announces Rützel. “In the first half of 2011 alone, we increased our sales in Asia by 55 percent, and we more than doubled our sales in China. Asia is really the growth engine of the company.”

Casual urban chic: Boss Orange is made for a younger market.

I believe that the strength of any successful fashion brand lies in its ability to know its market intimately, and Boss seems like it’s ahead of the game. Proof? It invests heavily in finding out what’ll work best for their different customers across the globe. “We have a dedicated regional merchandise team, a team of 10 people who travel around the region to the different markets and talk to our customers, finding out their needs and requirements,” explains Rützel. “They gather all this information and go back to the headquarters and talk to our designers, making recommendations about what would make the merchandise more attractive to people in the region. Fifty percent of the items in the stores are consistent across all markets, even in Europe and the Americas. But there’s a certain percentage that we twist and tweak to cater to the taste of the Asian customer.” And among their extensive offerings, the Asian-fit suits and dress styles have developed a sturdy fan base. 

Shopaholics, brace yourselves!

The next few months will be an exciting time for Boss fans as the brand continues to expand even further. “With the growing importance of the local market, we will be building flagship stores in key cities in the region. Three in particular are Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing,” says Rützel. “We’re also looking into having a flagship store in Australia and we’re scouting for good locations in Tokyo as well.”

Impressive development: More and more women are getting Boss-ed up as well.

These stores would mean massive outlets covering about 600 to 1,000 square meters of fabulous Boss merchandise. Think: shelves upon shelves of Boss’s best, carrying all its signature products, as well as its sub-brands. Plus, Boss will be setting up two new hubs, one in Shanghai and one in Hong Kong, as well as beef up its IT and logistical infrastructure. This means that they will be able to substantially “reduce the lead time and allow us to supply merchandise to our stores at a much shorter time,” says Rützel.

Now, wouldn’t you say it’s the perfect time to suit up?

* * *

Boss is available at Greenbelt 4, Ayala Center, Makati.