Wrangler hopes to tap into China's jeans market as it plots entry

The jeans brand had initially planned to enter China this year but put off plans as Covid-19 struck

Wrangler's launch in China was postponed this year amid the health crisis. Robert Alexander/Getty Images

Wrangler is bringing its jeans back to China, a bit later than planned.

After the coronavirus pandemic upended efforts to return to the massive market earlier this year, the brand quietly began selling on Alibaba Group’s Tmall e-commerce site this month. Executives for the denim maker are now prepping local operations for a broader launch in March with a series of events.

“Product was there, locked-and-loaded, ready to go” in February, said Chris Waldeck, who manages the Wrangler business in Asia for parent company Kontoor Brands. Executives postponed the launch amid the health crisis “to make sure we could do it right, and do it complete”.

Kontoor, which also owns Lee and Rock & Republic, has made international markets a growth priority since spinning off from fashion conglomerate VF last year. Lee has been in China for 25 years, but Wrangler hasn’t had a presence there for about a decade, after the previous owner exited a local partnership.

Denim companies are betting on China to become the next big growth engine for the industry, with Levi Strauss & Co. opening a Shanghai flagship in August. Consumer spending in the country has picked up as daily life inches back to normal and the economy bounces back, with retail sales up 5 per cent in November from a year ago.

Kontoor has been market-testing the Wrangler brand recently with a virtual storefront, and the results are promising, executives said. While the brand is largely associated with the cowboy image in the US, in China it appeals to fans of music, tech, sports and more, according to company research and data gleaned from Tmall.

That’s underpinning a marketing strategy that Mr Waldeck described as “the lovechild of an energy drink and a denim brand”, meshing extreme sports with fashion. The executive, who is also the global brand president of Lee, said the company wants to appeal to young shoppers.

Kontoor plans to open a store network under the Wrangler name, though it’s still working out ownership structures. While executives haven’t yet set a firm revenue target or determined a store-count goal, the market could account for a significant portion of its international business, now more than $600 million in annual sales.

Timing is key for Kontoor, whose shares rose 1 per cent this year through Wednesday. After Wrangler’s global sales slipped 6 per cent last quarter, the company is betting its China launch can capitalise on a recovery in the country.

“China is in a much better place now,” Mr Waldeck said. “Come first quarter of next year, it’ll be even that much further along.”