Londonfrey’s chief menswear buyer: Premium brands want to play in the luxury segment by increasing prices

As head of buying at the traditional Munich store Lodenfrey, Sebastian Haufellner is responsible for three areas that could hardly be more different at first glance: Menswear, Kidswear and Men's Traditional Costumes.

Before the start of the upcoming trade fair season, the Munich-based designer revealed to FashionUnited how the individual areas influence each other and where the fashion journey for men is heading in the coming season. He also spoke about the lessons and horrors of past seasons, the balancing act between trend and tradition and the upcoming generation of the next Lodenfrey customers.

Before we start a new season, let's take a look back. How would you sum up the past order period?

What struck me was that everything has become double-digit more expensive across the board. This will of course present us with challenges in the future when it comes to enforcing this with end consumers. Especially if the same products become more expensive.

And it's not the first season in which everything has become more expensive...

That's right, our end consumers are also accepting that everything from tomatoes to houses is currently becoming more expensive, but it's time for everything to slowly settle at a new and, above all, stable level.

Are brands open to a dialog regarding rising prices?

In existing partnerships and in cases where the brand relies on wholesale, there are open dialogues and our needs are also addressed. Either through a stable recommended retail price or fair mark-up recommendations. And then, of course, there are brands for which their own retail is much more important than wholesale. These brands gather their own experience and say quite clearly: "Price doesn't matter to us."

Are there price increases that make a brand no longer viable for its product range?

Yes, that crystallises relatively quickly, within one or two seasons. The biggest problem here are premium brands that believe they also need to break into the luxury market. And before they do that in terms of image, they go for the price. These brands certainly have the biggest problem surviving, as classic luxury consumers spend large amounts due to scarcity and desirability - and not on 20, 30 or 40 brands that all think they can play in the luxury segment by suddenly raising their prices.

Can you give us an example?

Let's take a sportswear brand as an example. A well-known sportswear brand has had a strong presence in Munich's cityscape in the height of winter for the last five years. Back then, end consumers bought this jacket for around 800 to 900 euros, even before it got cold. The same jacket now costs between 1,300 and 1,500 euros. The brand seems to think that in future it will be consumed at the level of the Monclers of this world and brands on the Maximilianstrasse [Ed. an expensive shopping street in Munich]. However, this completely ignores the fact that end consumers don't see the brand as luxury at all, but rather as mainstream - also due to its presence in the cityscape.

Do you have any new brands on your radar that you would like to include in your range?

A certain percentage, around 10 percent of our range, is always dynamically viewed and exchanged. Therefore, around 20 to 30 percent of the brands that I visit in their showrooms are not yet part of our range and are not yet written by our buyers. These are mainly brands that have potential or prospects. If we only buy by the numbers, which many companies do, then we will be left standing. We have to make sure that we are always setting the next stimulus.

Where do you look for inspiration and how do you and your team find new potential brands?

Nowadays, of course, the algorithms of the digital world help. If you follow a brand on Instagram, the algorithm automatically suggests global brands that are similar or are searched for and consumed by similar people. And we also physically travel through cities from time to time, especially before our order phases, and see what's happening outside.

Are there any cities that play a special role in this?

In Europe, it's London, as we're in Paris and Milan during the order phase anyway. Scandinavia is interesting, but the intersection of fashion at Lodenfrey is not necessarily Scandinavian. When it comes to traditional costume, it's other cities that are more in the Alpine region. And then it tends to be stores, and they can also be on greenfield sites.

Have you learned any lessons from the past season that you will take into the upcoming order season?

We will once again adapt our buying somewhat more to the performance of Lodenfrey. We still want to grow on both channels - stationary and online - but with a little more humility. After the pandemic, there was a certain gold-rush atmosphere and the hope that end consumers would consume excessively forever, as the catch-up effect at the time could not be estimated.

Lodenfrey stands for tradition for many Munich residents, but the classic male image in particular is changing more and more. How do you combine fluidity and modernity without offending the "classic menswear customer"?

With men, of course, it is quite clear that they cultivate a well-kept boredom. This means that men more or less always buy the same things. 80 percent of what we do big business with are the same jeans every year, the same beige pants, the same dark blue jackets and so on. It's important that the buyers work professionally and sometimes disregard trends, because you can only afford to shop for trends up to a certain percentage.

Many of your customers grew up with Lodenfrey, right?

Overall, we are not a high fashion house, but something that radiates reliability. I myself grew up with Lodenfrey as a child. Sometimes it's almost amazing that we have such a high status across different generations. It starts with a physical experience for the children, which we also focus on with the carousel and slide, so that young and potential customers say: "Mom, Dad, I want to go to Lodenfrey."

An incredible number of employees grew up on the slide. We have customers who grew up on the slide and for them it's somehow an emotional anchor.

You are not only responsible for menswear, but also for kidswear. How do these areas differ in terms of trends and their cycle?

With girls, it's the case that women's trends hit the girls' fashion world almost simultaneously. You have to look closely and be early. And with the boys, it's sometimes seasonal or even annual. If we notice that a trend is on the rise in men's fashion, then it comes to children's fashion the following year.

It's similar to brands. If we notice a brand hype, then we also have to take a closer look at children's fashion. Many big brands also recycle their collections. You can then see that a theme in the previous season in terms of colours or qualities for men will often be a theme for children the following year.

Where will the fashion journey take men next season?

Fashion-wise, there will be a refinement of the trend that we formulated for our mission statement last year with "The Talented Mr. Ripley". Back then, we invited our entire men's department to the cinema to present the film as a "trend", to set the tone and show how to celebrate this clothing - the wider pants, the natural materials, the colours, the knitted polo shirts as key highlights.

One crisis follows another - are customers buying less as a result?

Yes, that's what we assume for the market as a whole. The question is whether, conversely, this also means that we are buying less or planning for a loss. We have been restricting our range quite considerably recently. We are definitely buying fewer brands than before. For example, if we get rid of around 20 brands, we only take on around ten new ones. This is how we want to sharpen our profile.

And what is the situation at Lodenfrey? Have your customers continued to invest in fashion?

In times of crisis, we probably even benefit a little more than in other times. Just like the luxury brands, the old ones, the reliable ones, who also benefit from the fact that people buy "the good old things". Clearly, however, we also have to keep reinventing ourselves and move with the times, as the traditional companies that don't move with the times are slowly dying off.

Does the ongoing 'Quiet Luxury' trend also play a role here?

We stand for 'Quiet Luxury', for us it's not a trend. We struggled a little with ‘Logomania’. I think a quiet trend naturally follows a loud one. ‘Silent Luxury’ is also about the code that you show. And Munich is predestined for showing what you buy. So everything has to be 'Silent Luxury', it has to be the right shoe that everyone recognises on the street.

After the 'Quiet Luxury' trend, the end of the luxury boom is now imminent. How do you deal with this?

Just like the trend or the phrase "streetwear is dead". Customers will always spend a lot of money on something if they think it has a special value. Whether that is a special performance, a special quality, a special service or a special scarcity.

The weather has not necessarily helped the start of the fall/winter season, how is business going at the moment?

We have made a double-digit loss in fashion due to the weather, but at the same time we have made a plus in the company, as the traditional costume sector was very strong for us.

The saying "After the Wiesn is before the Wiesn" [After the Oktoberfest is before the Oktoberfest] - does that also apply to the traditional costume business?

The Oktoberfest, together with the Wasen in Stuttgart, is actually the last big festival of the season. All other folk festivals take place before it. The core costume business therefore takes place in the summer months. So from April, when the spring festivities begin, many weddings, some corporate events, birthdays take place, but ultimately the many folk festivals are also held. This means that we have also shifted our entire seasonal management of traditional costumes.

Has traditional costume therefore become a season-independent product? And how does the cycle of traditional costume differ from fashion?

Nowadays, we actually see our core traditional costume business as a year-round business. In the past, the traditional costume cycle was always a little later than fashion, according to the motto "we're not a fashionable product, so we don't have to deliver or sell early". Accordingly, we always wrote the orders for a winter season with delivery in July, August, and September in February and March. This is impossible with today's supply chains. Today, we start buying straight after the Oktoberfest. You're never smarter than right after Oktoberfest anyway.

Has this shift also changed the goods you order?

It has actually become more traditional again. People are buying them authentically. That naturally helps our overall style and message, because we really like to cultivate this traditional part. There's no end in sight at the moment.

You just mentioned a double-digit loss due to the weather. Where is there a need to catch up?

Wardrobes are full, so it's not pent-up demand, but a need to catch up. Of course, sportswear, coats, outerwear and knitwear. The mid-winter product groups are suffering at the moment.

The topic of weather seems to be revisited every winter season...

It's funny that every year we talk about how it was too warm in the autumn and that the winter coats are still hanging on the rack. But honestly, we're going about it the wrong way too.

When we left the normal statutory sale in Germany at the end of January, we tried to artificially extend the season. Suppliers were forced to deliver winter goods in the summer in order to maximise the sales period, even though they knew they wouldn't sell them in those weeks. However, you still have to pay, and this leads to liquidity bottlenecks in many places, which in turn triggers hysteria. So the price battles start in September and October, without the season even being close to starting.

The industry needs to be relieved of this schizophrenic sale price pressure. The duty is on the suppliers and retailers.

What are your hopes for the upcoming season?

I am definitely looking forward to a very, very humble attitude from all market participants next year.