Wolf & Rita records growth in the US, plans retail expansion in 2026

Portuguese childrenswear brand Wolf & Rita has posted growth in the North American market, now its main market, and is preparing new strategies for 2026, with a focus on expansion in Portugal and across Europe.

Wolf & Rita had a steady 2024, albeit with significant shifts across international markets. “Last year we were at cruising speed, stable. We saw a slight dip in Japan, as the market is facing significant economic difficulties, but we grew strongly in the US, which has become our leading market” and now accounts for 25% of turnover, Sónia Rocha tells Portugal Têxtil.

According to the brand’s co-founder, Asia, which until then had been the main market, has been overtaken by the US, driven by a new distributor who works “with a very specific community, the Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn”, which has “strong purchasing power and is embracing Wolf & Rita.”

With the autumn/winter 2025 collection also enjoying a good reception, including online sales in the US, Sónia Rocha recognises that the next challenge lies in customs duties. “We believe that online sales will decline. The challenge and the strategy will be to increase sales to shops, so they can better meet the market’s needs locally. Because the wholesale price we sell at, and the business model we’ve been using, already cover the duties,” she explains.

The brand is also seeing positive momentum in the Middle East, with a presence in Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia and an increasing number of points of sale. “It’s a market that, while not yet as significant as the US, is growing,” notes the co-founder of Wolf & Rita. Currently, the Middle East represents around 15% of the brand’s turnover, while Asia accounts for between 15% and 17%.

By contrast, the Portuguese market remains “very residual.” Sónia Rocha acknowledges that “all the shops we had selling Wolf & Rita, unfortunately, did not survive.” Even so, online sales place Portugal as the third- or fourth-largest market, especially during promotional periods. “Our main strategy for 2026 is to undertake marketing and communication for the Portuguese market, to see if we have any room for growth here,” she reveals.

In Europe, the focus is on the Benelux countries, particularly the Netherlands and Belgium, which Sónia Rocha considers to have the greatest potential. “We’re now working with a consultant and then we’ll move on to the communications side, demystifying the idea that people have of Wolf & Rita being a very unattainable, fashion-led brand,” explains the co-founder. However, she clarifies that despite the “strong image,” “60% of the collection is knitwear, easily combined with other brands. But people don’t see that and we’re working on simplifying the collection and making it more commercial, so that we can then communicate that.”

The current collection, launched in August, is in line with previous years’ collections and, “even though the economic situation isn’t great in Japan and the cold weather has yet to set in, Wolf & Rita is outperforming other brands. So we’re happy with the results this collection is achieving,” she concludes.