Fashion
Clarks fêtes 200th year, opens Milan pop-up with Candiani, expands global e-tail presence
Translated by
Nicola Mira
Published
December 5, 2025
British footwear brand Clarks is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year. In Italy, the brand is marking the bicentennial by opening a pop-up space within the Candiani Denim Store, in piazza Mentana 3 in Milan, where customers are able to personalise their Clarks shoes throughout December.
From December 2 to 9, the Milanese store by Candiani, a premium Italian denim producer with its own jeans line, is hosting a Clarks pop-up shop. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore the British footwear brand’s history, its signature models, and learn about some of the leading figures who have worn Clarks and helped define its identity, influencing generations. A documentary about Clarks’s 200 years in business, entitled From Somerset to the World, will be screened inside the pop-up shop. The shop will showcase a selection of Clarks Originals models, including the Wallabee, Desert Boot and Desert Trek, as well as several items from the Fall/Winter 2025-26 collection, reinterpreting materials, shapes and colours with a contemporary feel.
In parallel with the pop-up shop (where a special event was staged on Thursday December 4), throughout December the Candiani Denim Store is giving Clarks customers the chance to create a personalised version of their shoes, choosing from two Clarks Originals models, the Wallabee and the Desert Boot. The limited-edition shoes will feature a personalised denim fob, and customers will be able to choose from an extensive library of patterns and designs. The motif chosen will be lasered directly on to the shoes at Candiani Custom, the denim brand’s urban micro-factory for bespoke jeans located next to the store.
FashionNetwork.com has had the opportunity to talk about Clarks’s distribution plans in Italy with Fabio Antonini, CEO of 3A, the company that has been distributing the British brand’s men’s and women’s lines since the Fall/Winter 2025-26 season.
FashionNetwork.com: Clarks has been busy overhauling its retail presence in Italy. What are the implementation steps, and what have the initial results been?
Fabio Antonini: Unlike the previous distributor, whose strategy was chiefly aimed at monobrand stores, we have rejigged Clarks’s distribution model by focusing on the wholesale channel and on a strong presence in multibrand stores. This is enabling us to rapidly extend our territorial footprint, making the brand more accessible and better integrated within the Italian market.
FN: How many more Clarks corners are you planning to open in 2026 in Italy? And what about Clarks’s monobrand presence? Are you considering other initiatives like the one with Candiani?
FA: We currently don’t have any plans for new corners or monobrand stores. Our strategy is focused on the wholesale channel and multibrand retailers. The initiative with Candiani was developed as a special project to celebrate Clarks’s 200th anniversary. Over the next few years, we will assess new collaborations and special projects, in line with the brand’s future requirements.
FN: In how many multibrand stores is Clarks currently distributed, and how many more are you planning to reach?
FA: In 2025, we have made Clarks available at 433 clients for a total of 619 doors [in Italy]. Next year, we’re expecting to grow the number of clients served by approximately 10%.
FN: Clarks recently announced and deployed a strategy designed to boost its position in global e-marketplaces, is it also being implemented in Italy?
FA: Clarks’s new global strategy is set to make the brand even more accessible and reachable by online consumers. Its expanded presence on new global marketplaces is making Clarks easier to access in Italy too, strengthening its online presence and making it easier for consumers to buy.
FN: What revenue result did 3A reach in fiscal 2024, how much did it grow by, and what is your forecast for 2025?
FA: In 2024, 3A generated a revenue of approximately €110.3 million, up 4.84% over the €105.2 million recorded in 2023. We’re expecting to grow at a similar rate in 2025.
FN: Have there been new entries or other changes within 3A’s brand portfolio?
FA: Yes, there have been changes. Our portfolio includes underwear by Nike, Jordan, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, as well as footwear and other products by Clarks, Converse Shoes, Nike Swim, Nike, Jordan, Converse Apparel Kids, Lacoste Kids, Huggies Apparel and Crep Protect.
We’re pursuing a strategy aimed at introducing new lines with a distribution exclusive, to further enrich our portfolio also in terms of brand quality. Some new lines will feature as early as spring 2026.
Brand background
Clarks was founded in Street, Somerset, in 1825, when Cyrus Clark opened a tannery with his brother James. It began shoemaking by using leather offcuts to create slippers. In 1950, Clarks created the revolutionary Desert Boot shoes. Since then, Clarks has built an archive of over 22,000 models that have been worn across generations all over the world.
In fiscal 2024, Clarks’s parent company C&J Clark Ltd reported a revenue drop of 9.4%, to £901.3 million (approximately €1.07 billion), and a pre-tax loss of £39.3 million. This led the company to overhaul the Clarks brand, cutting overheads, modifying the marketing approach, and repositioning the range. The brand’s retail strategy too has been reappraised, streamlining the store fleet and developing initiatives like the Milanese pop-up store.
Clarks, in typically innovative fashion, is also expanding its online presence with several new launches on global e-tailers like Shein, Walmart, Target, Secret Sales and TikTok Shop. In the UK, Clarks has recently been introduced on Shein and Secret Sales, while in Europe it will be available at Secret Sales Netherlands and Dress for Less later this year. In the Americas, it has been featured on eBay for the last five years, and has recently reached Shop Simon, Shein and Walmart, while it will be available on Target this month.
Clarks is also aiming to consolidate its presence on TikTok Shop. It launched on the Chinese social shopping channel in Singapore and Malaysia last year, and this year it has reached the UK and the Americas, with Europe set to follow in 2026. This expansion drive follows the September announcement of the first Clarks-owned digital marketplace, which is set to be launched in the UK in early 2026.
Candiani is an Italian family company founded in 1938 and based in Robecchetto con Induno, near Milan, in the Ticino Park Nature Reserve. Besides owning the store in piazza Mentana in Milan, with the Candiani Custom micro-factory for bespoke jeans, Candiani owns among others the patent for Coreva, the first and only biodegradable and compostable stretch denim available on the market.
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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.
Global growth is projected to remain broadly steady over the next two years, easing to 2.6 per cent in 2026 before rising to 2.7 per cent in 2027, an upward revision from the June forecast.
World economy is proving more resilient than anticipated despite persistent trade tensions and policy uncertainty, the World Bank said.
Global growth is projected to stay broadly steady over the next two years, easing to 2.6 per cent in 2026 before rising to 2.7 per cent in 2027.
Global inflation is projected to edge down to 2.6 per cent in 2026, reflecting softer labour markets and lower energy prices.
The resilience reflects better-than-expected growth, especially in the United States, which accounts for about two-thirds of the upward revision to the forecast in 2026.
Even so, if these forecasts hold, the 2020s are on track to be the weakest decade for global growth since the 1960s.
The sluggish pace is widening the gap in living standards across the world, the report says.
In 2025, growth was supported by a surge in trade ahead of policy changes and swift readjustments in global supply chains. These boosts are expected to fade in 2026 as trade and domestic demand soften.
However, the easing global financial conditions and fiscal expansion in several large economies should help cushion the slowdown, a World Bank release said citing the report.
Global inflation is projected to edge down to 2.6 per cent in 2026, reflecting softer labour markets and lower energy prices.
Growth is expected to pick up in 2027 as trade flows adjust and policy uncertainty diminishes.
In 2026, growth in developing economies is expected to slow to 4 per cent from 4.2 per cent in 2025 before edging up to 4.1 per cent in 2027 as trade tensions ease, commodity prices stabilise, financial conditions improve and investment flows strengthen.
Growth is projected to be higher in low-income countries, reaching an average of 5.6 per cent over 2026-27, buoyed by firming domestic demand, recovering exports and moderating inflation.
However, this will not be sufficient to narrow the income gap between developing and advanced economies.
Per capita income growth in developing economies is projected to be 3 per cent in 2026—about a percentage point below its 2000-2019 average.
At this pace, per capita income in developing economies is expected to be only 12 per cent of the level in advanced economies.
These trends could intensify the job-creation challenge confronting developing economies, where 1.2 billion young people will reach working age over the next decade, according to the World Bank.
Fibre2Fashion (DS)
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.
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