German fashion brand Hugo, a subsidiary of Hugo Boss AG, has announced the appointment of two new design talents. Eyan Allen will be creative director while Bruno Pieters will be art director, replacing creative director Volker Kaechele, who quit the company in December. The structure of a creative director and an art director is new to the label, which was established in 1993, with both Allen and Pieters starting on 1 June.

Allen will be responsible for the coordination of the collection and the running of the creative team, while Pieters will act as external consultant for the brand, responsible for the design and strategy of the collections. He will continue to run his own signature label in Antwerp .

Meanwhile, the German fashion group announced strong first-quarter earnings, which were boosted by an excellent performance of its women's wear division as well as strong sales of shoes and leather accessories. Pre-tax profits rose 13 percent to €99 million on sales up 9 percent to €500 million, with net income up 18 percent to €70 million. Hugo Boss said the women's wear business performed “particularly well�, with sales gaining 42 percent to €62 million. Shoes and leather accessories sales jumped 26 percent to €58 million, contributing to significantly to overall group results, as did the 28 percent rise in retail sales.

European sales gained 11 percent to €366 million. The group said sales from its directly owned stores made a “crucial� contribution to the strong performance during the quarter. In Germany , sales were up 7 percent. In other European markets, sales rose 13 percent to €262 million. Sales in the UK rose 12 percent to €34 million. Meanwhile, sales in the Americas rose 13 percent, while sales in Asia and “other regions� climbed 11 percent.