Dive Brief:
- VF Corp. reported revenue of $1.9 billion for Q1 of its 2025 fiscal year, marking a 9% year-over-year decline, according to a Tuesday earnings report.
- The Vans brand, which has consistently been a drag on VF’s earnings, fell 21%, which the company called a “modest improvement” compared to last quarter, when the brand’s revenue declined 26%.
- The results come on the heels of VF’s announcement that it was selling Supreme to EssilorLuxottica for $1.5 billion. VF said in its earnings statement that it expects to report Supreme as discontinued operations in its next earnings report.
Dive Insight:
Vans is the subject of VF’s previously announced Project Reinvent, which looks to boost the brand as well as improve brand-building, execution and sales in North America.
Since the plan’s announcement, VF hired a new president for Vans, former Lululemon exec Sun Choe, and launched a new ad campaign focused on blending physical and digital experiences.
Tom Nikic of Wedbush said the brand was showing signs of recovery in the combined regions of Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with wholesale up there for the first time in six quarters. For VF overall, however, the EMEA region declined by 5%, and the Americas region fell by 12% in Q1
Though VF’s results for the quarter “weren’t as bad as feared,” Nikic said “there’s still a lot of work to do to turn Vans around and to clean up the balance sheet.”
CEO Bracken Darrell said that after a year in his position, he feels “more energized than ever.”
“While the business is still down, the rate of decline moderated quarter-over-quarter versus Q4 and across almost all our brands,” Darrell said in the release. “We advanced further on the Reinvent transformation plan. We are on track to deliver our targeted cost savings and we have addressed one of our top financial priorities to strengthen the balance sheet with the announced sale of Supreme.”
The North Face’s revenue fell 3% in the quarter. The brand saw “broad-based DTC growth in all regions,” but the results were offset by U.S. wholesale, per the company. VF recently hired Caroline Brown as global brand president of The North Face, after she briefly sat on the company’s board of directors.
Timberland and Dickies each saw revenue decline, by 10% and 15%, respectively. VF’s other brands, which include Altra, Eastpak and Jansport, collectively grew by 8%.
By channel, DTC revenue fell 10%, and wholesale revenue fell 8%.
VF has recently undergone a series of executive changes. In addition to Darrell, Choe and Brown, VF also named former Spotify exec Paul Vogel as its new CFO in May.
David Swartz, senior equity analyst for Morningstar Research Services, said in an email to Fashion Dive that investors are focused on management and other changes and are reacting positively.
“CEO Bracken Darrell indicated that more cost cutting will be announced on Oct. 30,” Swartz said. “I don’t know if this means significant layoffs are coming, but it could.”
Meanwhile on a conference call with analysts, Darrell said with the announcement of the Supreme sale, its previously announced portfolio review was complete, but he added, “I don’t think we’re ever really done in terms of reviewing our portfolio.”
Also on the call, Darrell announced an October Investor Day on Oct. 30. He said the presentation would “give you a good sense for how we expect that debt to come down.”
