At the forefront of the textile industry, Lupo just turned 102

Lupo turned 102 on March 21st. The brand, a reference in the Brazilian textile market, has kept up-to-date over the years to preserve its avant-garde position in the Brazilian industry. The company is one of the participants in Texbrasil (Program for the Internationalization of the Brazilian Textile and Fashion Industry) — the result of a partnership between Abit (Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association) and ApexBrasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency).

“Lupo is an innovative brand, attuned to trends and novelties, with quality products, loved by Brazilians and has been getting great results”, comments Liliana Aufiero, CEO of Lupo and granddaughter of the founder Henrique Lupo. In 2022, Grupo Lupo opened 135 new stores, totaling 940 stores in its network. In addition, the company won over 1,500 multi-brand retailers and opened 53 franchises in total during the year. “Completing 102 years working, maintaining and seeking to raise the standard even more shows us that we are on the right path, confident and with the certainty that we will continue to do our best every day”, concludes Aufiero. 

According to the most recent balance sheet released by the company, in 2022, the Lupo Group ended the year with consolidated net revenue of BRL 1.5 billion, an increase of 13% compared to the previous year, and adjusted net profit of BRL 218.2 million, with a net margin of 14.5%. In investments, according to the company’s 4Q22, the group’s ROIC (return on invested capital) was 19.2% and adjusted EBITDA was R$265.5 million with a margin of 17.7%. Check out the details of this balance sheet. 

Among the commemorative actions in celebration of the company’s centenary anniversary, the Lupo UAU line was started, a playful and fun proposal for the confection of socks. The first collection, only in children’s sizes, brought as its theme the short story “Quem soltou o PUM?” (Who turned PUM loose?), by Blandina Franco and illustrations by José Carlos Lollo, from the publishing house Companhia das Letras, to encourage reading. The brand has also been approaching the geek universe, with the Lupo Urban line, also of socks, in addition to sponsoring events in this segment such as the Brasil Game Show (BGS) and Comic-Con (CCXP), in addition to establishing strategic partnerships with brands such as Bauducco and Rock in Rio. 

Other recent company initiatives include the creation of Lupo Sport, fitness fashion, with technological products for the practice of sports. The group also invests in innovation, such as LupoLab, an environment for startups and companies to develop technological solutions such as the Fast Lupo platform, which integrated the sales channels for smarter and more agile management of the company’s logistics.

In terms of socio-environmental responsibility and governance, Lupo changed the packaging of its products, resulting in a 90% reduction in paper, among other benefits linked to ESG. The sustainability report can be found on the company’s website.

In addition, the company has a Lupo Cultural Space that brings together the history of the city of Araraquara and the company’s employees, but it has plans to be the stage for dialogues about the future of fashion and retail. Still in this expansion plan, Lupo recently made two acquisitions: a factory of 50 thousand square meters in Pacatuba and a knitting factory of 25 thousand square meters in the city of Maracanaú, both located in Ceará. In doing so, Lupo now has four production units in Araraquara-SP, Itabuna-BA, Pacatuba-CE and Maracanaú-CE. 

About Texbrasil

The Brazilian Textile and Fashion Industry Internationalization Program (Texbrasil) works with companies in the textile and apparel sector in the development of strategies to conquer the global market. Over 20 years, it has helped around 1600 brands to get on the export trail, doing USD 9 billion in business. The Program is carried out through a partnership between Abit and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil).

Source: Abit