The Conversation J. MICHAEL PRINCE, PRESIDENT AND CEO, U.S. POLO ASSN

LEGACY FASHION PLAYERS HAVE THEIR TASK CUT OUT IN AN ERA WHERE A PLETHORA OF DIGITAL FASHION BRANDS ARE RULING THE ROOST BY BEING TRENDIER AND IN SYNC WITH GEN Z AND MILLENNIALS. J. MICHAEL PRINCE, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF $2.3 BILLION FASHION AND LIFESTYLE BRAND U.S. POLO ASSN (OFFICIAL BRAND OF UNITED STATES POLO ASSOCIATION FOUNDED IN 1890), EXPLAINS HOW IT STAYS IN TUNE WITH THE TIMES. 

- AJITA SHASHIDHAR

Physical retail was written off during Covid. Today, every retailer has an aggressive expansion strategy. Do you think brick-and-mortar retail will ever die? 

I am a big fan of stores. Human nature is tribal. We eat together, cry together, do things together, and shopping is no different. We go to stores with family or friends, try things together, and take feedback from each other, which is so important. I believe stores 1 drive ecommerce and vice versa. We have 425 stores in India where employees ask for your information, put that in a database and send you emails of the full collection. They complement our website and vice versa.

We will continue to invest in retail and get better. When the pandemic occurred, we shut down 50 unproductive doors and opened 100 new ones. We are targeting 1,500 stores (globally) by 2025 2 . Consumers like the flexibility of shopping online as well as in stores.

Do you consider fast fashion a threat? They are not just direct-to-consumer (D2C), they also have shorter inventory cycles, as they come up with collections more frequently. 

Fast fashion is not our play. Do we want to be faster? Yes. Do we want to be as fast as fast fashion? No. We know who we are, we know our key customers, our categories. We do them well. We continue to focus on that. I don’t look at them as direct competition.

We as a company have evolved through world-class campaigns and irresistible products. It’s a great value proposition for consumers all over the world. Whether you are in India, U.S. or Brazil, we give great products from a sports-inspired brand at great prices. We are really focused on engaging with Gen-Z consumers.