Hugo Boss Is Becoming More Mainstream

Hugo Boss CEO Claus-Dietrich Lahrs

Following the coverage of European CEO on Claus-Dietrich Lahrs, Hugo Boss CEO, we did our own investigation into the brand development over the past 5 years. Hugo Boss grew the sales through the recession and posted profit and sales increase when most of luxury brands failed. Main reason - Hugo Boss went more mainstream opening their own stores instead of selling through luxury chains such as Sacks and Neiman Marcus. Their own stores gave them direct traffic to see and try what Claus believes the best men's wear on the planet.
Prices dropped just by a notch, but didn't appear as high because of their own stores when you get to compare prices between suits of the same brand - Boss to Boss, not Boss to Armani.

Quality of Hugo Boss is something that delayed them before as well, since all Armani is made in Hong Kong out of Italian fabrics. Things are not the same with Hugo Boss. Most of the stuff is made in China out of imported fabrics. Of course, when you order custom suit in Canada for example whether you want Hugo Boss or Armani - both will be custom made in the same shop, but still from the fabrics provided by the brand according to the cutting designed by presumably The designer himself.

Armani is still powered by legendary Giorgio. Hugo Boss just recently hired young talent Justin Wu as lead designer. Hopefully Justin will add some spice to rather conservative Boss designs.

Hugo Boss glasses that are shared between three lines Boss glasses and sunglasses, Hugo glasses and Boss Orange glasses and sunglasses are distributed not by Boss, but sub licensed to Safilo - one of the largest Italian luxury eyewear manufacturer. All three lines are of superb quality, although, admittedly some are made in China. Boss glasses took a unique position in a way that they filled men's small niche. Every eyeglasses store will have not more than 20% of their stock offering for men. This is because majority of luxury brands make mostly women's eyewear. Boss is opposite - 90% of the offering is for men. That is a great strategy as men shop for glasses just as much as women do, but the market share of Boss glasses is much higher for men glasses as compared to Dior glasses for woman for example. So, not diverting to woman's fashion could be a good business decision for Hugo Boss at least for now.

Why OGA Glasses Are For Real Men

OGA brand has established a reputation of being the ultimate men's brand. All OGA glasses are meant for men. This is not to mention that some women like OGA glasses frames for their clean and edgy design, so no problem with some classy woman to wear a pair. But for now 90% of all OGA wearers were men. Some have several pairs. One good thing about OGA designs is that they change quite frequently, unlike many other brands that carry same models for 3-4 years without change, OGA has something very cool and unprecedented to offer every year. Just have a look:

Buy OGA 68940 here	Buy OGA 68970 here
Buy OGA 69730 here	Buy OGA 70470 here
Buy OGA 68410 here	Buy OGA 70160 here
Men's OGA 70180 here	Buy OGA 68850 here
Men's OGA 68900	OGA 69020 glasses

Tiffany & Co. Claims It Does Not Sell Blood Diamonds

Following the famous film with Leonardo DiCaprio "Blood Diamonds" public became increasingly aware of the sad sources of diamonds. Because of very large black market of these precious stones, thousands of people were dying in conflicts over the supply chain. It made those owning nice collections of diamonds feel very guilty. It also made educated public do some research on the sources of diamonds they purchase. In Canada for example, most of well established diamond stores proudly label whole sections with jewelry as Canadian Ice Diamonds.

Tiffany & Co. world largest diamond retailer went a step further and came up with Annual Responsibility Report. The report details all efforts company is putting towards environment sustainability, charity donations and most importantly keeping in control over the diamond sources. Before jewelry companies would purchase diamonds from known suppliers but they never verified where suppliers got diamonds. This led to creation of black market where diamonds were stolen or mined in inhumane conditions by modern slaves. The problem was shown in detail in DiCaprio film "Blood Diamonds".

Tiffany is claiming in their report that all diamonds they used in 2012 were from 100% verified sources, thus no blood diamond trade was involved. Tiffany also reported on new investments to support making diamond mines safer. Close to 1% of pretax revenue spend on and large donations towards environmental charities.

This all is however, according to Tiffany & Co. statements. Actual consumers face difficulty to confirm actual sources of their Tiffany diamonds. Diamonds are mined mostly in Africa and Canada and the origin of stones is not presented for consumers. In Canada it is common to see a stand with "Canadian Diamonds" from various retailers such as Ben Moss, Peoples and independent boutiques. You will not see one like this at Tiffany. Tiffany states that they follow Kimbrley process rigorously. Kimberley process was established some 8 years ago to fight smuggling of diamonds from conflict zones and making sure they are not illegally obtained. The process is however mainly enforced by the dealers. It entails verifying that diamonds are imported in proper sealed containers with an official sticker on them. To ensure the source is official company has to be in control of actual mines. Tiffany owns many mines, which ensures quality control and humane working conditions for miners. Not all diamonds are from Tiffany owned mines. But the fact that the company is trying to combat black market is admirable and let's hope company will do everything in their power to get diamonds to consumers not at the cost of someone's life of well being.

Tiffany Glasses 2013 Models

Tiffany continues to make super cute glasses in their own Tiffany & Co style. Tiffany uses signature Tiffany blue trims to decorate most of 2013 models, mostly in Black and Havana colors. There are other conservative colors as well, such as Tortoise, Full Black and some very bold like pink. What people love about the Tiffany glasses frames the most? The fact they they are thin. It is hard to find glasses prescription frames that are plastic and black, but those that look not too heavy. Tiffany is a leader in such niche designs.

Tiffany glasses TF1059B	Tiffany TF1072
Tiffany TF2034B	Tiffany TF2035 glasses
Tiffany TF2050B glasses	Tiffany TF2058 Black glasses
Tiffany TF2066 Glasses	Tiffany TF2068 Glasses
Tiffany TF2070B Black glasses	Tiffany TF2067B glasses