Frasers Takes the Lead at Hugo Boss as David Epstein Is Named CEO
Key Facts
Hugo Boss said Daniel Grieder will leave the CEO role at his own request on 31 December 2026, and that its supervisory board appointed David Epstein as his successor effective 1 January 2027. The decision comes as Frasers Group, where Epstein has worked for more than a decade, holds a majority stake in the German fashion company. Grieder said the company now has a “strong foundation” and that the time is right to hand leadership to the next generation. The company’s announcement did not specify Epstein’s responsibilities beyond the CEO role. The change coincides with pressure on sales performance and earnings expectations in 2026.
Grieder led Hugo Boss’s transformation under its CLAIM 5 strategy after taking the role in June 2021. In his statement, he said the strong foundation had convinced him that it was time to step down, signaling a handover after more than five years at the helm. The announcement follows the company’s decision on 3 November to cut its full-year forecast. Hugo Boss now expects currency-adjusted sales to decline in the high single-digit range and operating profit of between 250 million and 300 million euros. The company attributed the outlook to weaker demand assumptions and higher non-cash depreciation and amortization related to IT.
Currency-adjusted sales fell 5% in the third quarter, while revenue in the group’s reporting currency declined 4% to 946 million euros, compared with 989 million euros in the same period of 2025. The figures provide a direct backdrop to Epstein taking office as the company faces weaker demand and lower earnings expectations. The company’s initial 2026 guidance, announced in December 2025, had forecast a currency-adjusted sales decline in the mid- to high-single-digit range and operating profit of between 300 million and 350 million euros. The November update cut the operating profit range to 250 million to 300 million euros. In 2025, currency-adjusted sales rose 2%, but reported revenue fell 1% to 4.27 billion euros from 4.307 billion euros in 2024.
Epstein has served as Frasers’ head of brand partnerships since 2024, overseeing partnerships across the group’s sports, luxury and premium businesses. Before that, he ran the group’s premium and luxury divisions as managing director for five years. Hugo Boss says his experience at Frasers spans more than ten years, placing his appointment in the context of the group’s growing relationship with the German company. Reuters reported that Frasers, already Hugo Boss’s largest shareholder, raised its stake to more than 50% in October, becoming the majority owner. This came months after a two-billion-euro takeover bid failed.
The executive change followed a shift on the supervisory board: Michael Murray, Frasers’ chief executive, became its chairman on 16 September 2026. Hugo Boss also announced that Oliver Timm, its chief sales officer and deputy CEO, will leave on 30 November. Until further notice, Grieder and Ivica Maric, the chief financial officer and chief operating officer, will share the responsibilities Timm oversaw. Grieder’s departure thus follows the announced exit of another executive, at a time when Frasers has a greater presence in the company’s ownership and supervisory board. The sequence of changes places the CEO handover within a broader reshaping of the company’s leadership.
The current outlook falls under the CLAIM 5 TOUCHDOWN strategy, which runs through 2028. Hugo Boss expects currency-adjusted sales to return to growth in 2027, then accelerate in 2028, following the anticipated decline in 2026. In its business plan for that year, the company said it would take a more selective approach to distribution, including targeted store closures to improve the productivity and quality of its distribution network. It also intends to focus its product ranges, particularly in BOSS Womenswear and HUGO. Grieder had described the strategic framework as aimed at strengthening brand value, supporting profitable long-term growth and creating shareholder value.