| ● | our ability to successfully implement our business strategies to realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisition of Donna Karan International Inc. (“DKI”). |
Any forward-looking statements are based largely on our expectations and judgments and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are unforeseeable and beyond our control. A detailed discussion of significant risk factors that have the potential to cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations is described under the heading “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2019. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Overview
G-III designs, sources and markets an extensive range of apparel, including outerwear, dresses, sportswear, swimwear, women’s suits and women’s performance wear, as well as women’s handbags, footwear, small leather goods, cold weather accessories and luggage. G-III has a substantial portfolio of more than 30 licensed and proprietary brands, anchored by five global power brands: DKNY, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Karl Lagerfeld Paris. We are not only licensees, but also brand owners, and we distribute our products through multiple brick and mortar and online channels.
Our own proprietary brands include DKNY, Donna Karan, Vilebrequin, G.H. Bass, Eliza J, Jessica Howard, Andrew Marc and Marc New York. We sell products under an extensive portfolio of well-known licensed brands, including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Karl Lagerfeld Paris, Kenneth Cole, Cole Haan, Guess?, Vince Camuto, Levi’s and Dockers. Through our team sports business, we have licenses with the National Football League, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, Starter and over 150 U.S. colleges and universities. We also source and sell to retailers products under their private retail labels.
We operate in fashion markets that are intensely competitive. Our ability to continuously evaluate and respond to changing consumer demands and tastes, across multiple market segments, distribution channels and geographic areas is critical to our success. Although our portfolio of brands is aimed at diversifying our risks in this regard, misjudging shifts in consumer preferences could have a negative effect on our business. Our success in the future will depend on our ability to design products that are accepted in the marketplace, source the manufacture of our products on a competitive basis, and continue to diversify our product portfolio and the markets we serve.
Segments
We report based on two segments: wholesale operations and retail operations.
Our wholesale operations segment includes sales of products to retailers under owned, licensed and private label brands, as well as sales related to the Vilebrequin business. Wholesale revenues also include royalty revenues from license agreements related to our owned trademarks including DKNY, Donna Karan, Vilebrequin, G.H. Bass and Andrew Marc.
Our retail operations segment includes direct sales to consumers through company-operated stores and product sales through our owned websites for the DKNY, Donna Karan, Wilsons, G.H. Bass, Andrew Marc and Karl Lagerfeld Paris businesses. Our retail operations segment consists primarily of our Wilsons Leather, G.H. Bass and DKNY stores, substantially all of which are operated as outlet stores, as well as a smaller number of Karl Lagerfeld Paris and Calvin Klein Performance stores. As of July 31, 2019, we operated 132 Wilsons Leather stores, 106 G.H. Bass stores, 38 DKNY stores, 12 Karl Lagerfeld Paris stores and 4 Calvin Klein Performance stores.
Licensed Products
For more than 25 years, the sale of licensed products has been a key element of our strategy. We have continually sought to increase our portfolio of name brands, product offerings and tiers of distribution because we believe that consumers prefer to buy brands that they know and brand owners prefer to engage licensees who have a successful track record of developing brands.