Footasylum strikes DACH expansion deal with Germany’s Mad Agency

Footasylum has been going from strength in its core UK market in recent periods and now it’s hoping it can do the same abroad. On Monday, it announced a new strategic partnership with Cologne-based Mad Agency, to drive distribution across the DACH region.

Mad Agency will “represent Footasylum’s full brand stable as its exclusive sales agency for Germany and Austria” with the partnership officially launching this month with an initial three-year term. There was no mention of the DACH region’s other country, Switzerland, in the announcement.

The collaboration is a “significant step in Footasylum’s international growth strategy, reinforcing its commitment to expanding its brand presence in key European markets”.

Mad Agency is a leading multi-brand, multi-channel operator specialising in young fashion and streetwear. It has a portfolio of over 12 brands and more than 250 retail partners throughout the DACH region.

Footasylum said its new partner “brings deep market expertise and a proven track record of scaling emerging fashion labels”.

Dan Moneypeny, VP International at Footasylum, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Marc Jentzen and his talented team at The Mad Agency, whose regional expertise will enable us to build multi-brand and multi-channel distribution” across the region.

As mentioned, the company has been on a roll in the UK market of late and this year has seen multiple store openings. Back in the spring, it released results for the year to January and said revenue rose 9.4% to £349.5 million. Store sales were up 3% to £172 million, driven by new store openings based on the Oxford Street blueprint. Its online sales increased 6% to £143.6 million and made up 41% of the total. 

Underlying EBITDA was up 26% to £28.2 million and operating profit surged 123% to £23.3 million with profit before tax up 188% to £17.2 million.

While it hasn’t updated since, at the time it also said that the first months of the current trading year had been ahead of expectations so far.