HUGO BOSS is establishing a new organizational structure with two dedicated powerhouses for menswear and womenswear. The new setup is designed to ensure gender-specific expertise across all brand and product areas, unlock synergies, and drive efficiency and collaboration between the two brands, BOSS and HUGO. It thereby supports the company’s CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN strategy introduced in December and lays the foundation for future growth, especially in the womenswear area.

As part of this transformation, Kerstin Dorst will assume the newly created role of Senior Vice President Business Unit Womenswear as of January 15, reporting into HUGO BOSS Chief Sales Officer and Deputy CEO Oliver Timm. Dorst joins HUGO BOSS from Tory Burch, where she spent more than 10 years in New York and played a key role in growing the brand’s main collection and sportswear. Prior to Tory Burch, she worked at Adidas for over five years in Germany and Asia, contributing to the launch of the brand’s SLVR premium sportswear line, among others. In her new role, Dorst will also oversee the creative direction for womenswear collections, working closely with Marco Falcioni, HUGO BOSS Creative Director.

Hugo Boss is introducing separate menswear and womenswear business units to strengthen gender-specific expertise, unlock synergies and support its CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN growth strategy.
Kerstin Dorst will join as SVP Business Unit Womenswear from January 15, reporting to Oliver Timm, while Christian Schwinn continues to lead menswear across Boss and Hugo.

“With the new organizational structure, we are reshaping our business units to strengthen our focus on womenswear and lay the foundation for future growth. The new set-up will enable us to address gender-specific preferences even better and to deliver collections with a true customer centric approach in both areas in the future,” said Oliver Timm, Chief Sales Officer and Deputy CEO of HUGO BOSS. “In this context, I am pleased to welcome Kerstin Dorst in the newly created role for womenswear. Her extensive international experience and profound expertise will play a key role in taking our womenswear business to the next level in the years to come.”

The BOSS Menswear business will continue to be led by Christian Schwinn, who will additionally take on responsibility for HUGO Menswear as Senior Vice President Business Unit Menswear.

Note: The headline, insights, and image of this press release may have been refined by the Fibre2Fashion staff; the rest of the content remains unchanged.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (RM)

In the Ludhiana market, cotton yarn prices were broadly stable, with spinning mills maintaining their selling rates due to advance export sales bookings. A Ludhiana-based trader told Fibre*Fashion, “The cotton yarn market has become highly sensitive to US tariff-related developments. After earlier threats of *** per cent US tariffs, the recent announcement of a ** per cent tariff on Iran’s trading partners has triggered fresh concerns. Buyers have turned extremely cautious and are restricting purchases to immediate requirements only.”

In Ludhiana, ** count cotton combed yarn was sold at ****;***–*** (~$*.**–*.**) per kg (inclusive of GST); ** and ** count combed yarn were traded at ****;***–*** (~$*.**–*.**) per kg and ****;***–*** (~$*.**–*.**) per kg, respectively; and carded yarn of ** count was noted at ****;***–*** (~$*.**–*.**) per kg today, according to trade sources.

The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) expects the upcoming Budget to futureproof India’s textile and apparel sector through measures that will make the arena more resilient, innovative, and globally competitive.

CITI has urged the Union Budget to futureproof India’s textile and apparel sector through reforms on raw material pricing, competitiveness, sustainability and trade facilitation.
Seeking duty-free cotton, technology and green schemes, and export support, CITI said that high US tariffs threaten jobs in a sector vital to GDP, exports and livelihoods.

“Our optimism that the forthcoming Union Budget will significantly move the needle on policy and regulatory reforms is bolstered by the government’s steadfast commitment to the growth and development of India’s textile and apparel sector,” CITI chairman Ashwin Chandran said.

“The Budget enabling the creation of a stronger growth ecosystem for the Indian textile and apparel sector can also have a positive ripple effect on the Viksit Bharat (developed India) goal,” Chandran added.

India’s textile and apparel sector is the second-largest provider of jobs and livelihoods in the country. It is also a significant contributor to the country’s GDP and exports.

Some of the specific measures that the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) would like to see in the coming Budget are:

1. Raw material and price stability-related:

• Removal of import duty on all varieties of cotton fibre.
• Change in MSP formula for cotton to align with international benchmark prices.
• Launch of a Cotton Price Stabilisation Fund.
• Ensure availability of man-made fibres (MMF) at globally competitive prices.

2. Competitiveness, technology, and sustainability-related:

• Launch of a Green Technology Scheme to support MSMEs’ transition to clean energy and sustainable practices.
• Launch of an alternative scheme to the erstwhile Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme.
• Launch of a scheme to promote indigenous textile machinery  manufacturing.
• Address high power costs and industrial cross-subsidies.
• Establishment of a National Textile Fund.

3. Trade Facilitation-related

• Extension of RBI’s Trade Relief Measures to cover the entire textile value chain.
• Increase in Basic Customs Duty on all types of knitted fabric to curb imports at unviable prices.
• Reintroduction of the MEIS Scheme.
• Extension of the facility of Duty-free Import of specified items/goods to exporters of made-ups.

“Combined, these measures could increase the resilience of India’s textile and apparel sector and help it become a more powerful force globally, while also contributing towards realising the national target of creating a $350 billion textile and apparel industry in India by 2030,” Chandran said.

India’s textile and apparel sector has been hit hard by the 50 per cent US tariff on Indian goods, effective August 27, 2025. The steep US tariff has adversely affected numerous Indian textile and apparel companies, thereby increasing the risk that millions of people working in this sector may lose their jobs and livelihoods.

The US is the single-largest market for India’s textile and apparel exports, contributing almost 28 per cent to the total revenue of the country’s textile and apparel exporters. India’s exports of textile and apparel products to the US were valued at nearly $11 billion in the fiscal year 2024-25.

“India’s textile and apparel exporters have stepped up their diversification efforts, but it is tough to quickly make up for potential business losses in the US. Also, while existing and upcoming FTAs would create new opportunities for India’s textile and apparel sector, these benefits will require time to materialise,” Chandran said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (HU)