Jul 17, 2014

NIPPON STEEL & SUMIKIN BUSSAN CORPORATION (hereinafter referred to as “NSSB”; Head Office: Minato-Ku, Tokyo, President and Representative Director: Ichiro Miyasaka) aims to develop “GANT Rugger,” one of the “GANT” brands launched in Connecticut, U.S.A. in 1949, in the Japanese market, and has entered into an import agreement with GANT AB (Head Office: Stockholm, Sweden, CEO: Patrik Nilsson).

For development in the Japanese market, NSSB entered into agent agreement with Ueno-Shokai Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Ueno”; Head Office: Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Fumihiko Hasegawa). Ueno will start the business by launching pop-up shops at the end of July 2014, and will launch company stores, in-shop stores, e-commerce and wholesale distribution to select shops after September 2014. NSSB will import GANT Rugger products directly from factories around the world and supply them to Ueno.

GANT started operation as a shirt manufacturing factory in Connecticut, U.S.A. in 1941, and commenced sales of shirts under its original brand name “GANT” in 1949. Its name became well-known as the popular shirt of Ivy League schools such as Yale University, which is located in same town. GANT is famous for being the first shirt manufacturer to produce button-down shirts.

GANT originated in the U.S.A. and was acquired by a sportswear manufacturer in Sweden in 1999. It has developed globally mainly in Europe as a lifestyle brand of American sportswear. The brand has more than 700 shops in 60 countries, and its sales amount to 790 million euro (approximately 110 billion yen).

GANT Rugger was born in 2010 as a more “elegant, cool and urban” brand inheriting the DNA of the GANT brand. Its core target is people who have an interest in fashion. In New York, GANT Rugger participates in Fashion Week regularly and its articles appear in men’s fashion magazines frequently, so it is constantly one of the top brands in men’s fashion. There are 12 flagship stores of GANT Rugger in New York, London, Stockholm, Paris, etc.

GANT Rugger announced its collection, which is conscious of fashion trends every season, and the theme of the autumn and winter collection in 2014, when sales commence in Japan, is “Green Fingers.” The motif is gardening, and it is composed of an eccentric style that is conscious of the ‘classic gardening guy,’ and features warmer, sharper colors.

NSSB has plans to develop GANT Rugger and to expand sales (on a retail basis) from 300 million yen in the first year to 1 billion yen in the third yea

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GANT RUGGER ＜2014 Autumn & Winter Collection＞

• *The information contained in this news release is true and accurate at the time of publication; however, it may be subject to change without prior notice.

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