VRG is taking off with the new season. The Group expects lower demand as a result of weaker consumer sentiment.

Krakow, 22 March 2022 r. New collections for spring-summer 2022 have already appeared in VRG Group stores. Prepared with the post-pandemic revival in mind, this year’s assortment of clothing brands combines casual elements with elegant formal fashion. W.KRUK offers its own collection of jewelry and spring accessories. Among other things, new models of luxury watches will be available in the stores, the sales of which have historically proven to be exceptionally resistant to economic turbulences. VRG's offer launches in an exceptionally challenging environment of heightened social anxiety and lower consumer sentiment as a result of the war in Ukraine. Both of these factors will undoubtedly take their toll on the demand.

Getting ready for spring and summer this year, VRG clothing brands have decided on balanced collections, combining classic forms with comfortable casual elements. The common link of the Group's offer is the commitment to quality and timeless elegance. At the same time, the designs of the individual brands present very different poetics: from the contemporary Vistula collection, with a range of products tailored to different occasions and making it possible to combine and mix individual elements, through the classic elegance of BYTOM in a RETRO FUTURE edition, to the colourful, energetic collections of Wólczanka and Deni Cler.

As Marta Fryzowska, Vice President of VRG responsible for the fashion segment emphasizes, the Group prepared very well for the season in terms of the product offer and its optimal display in stores.

– The spring season is a time of lightness, joy, color, and optimism in fashion. However, this year our collections start under unprecedented geopolitical circumstances. We have no doubt that the situation in Ukraine is affecting consumer moods and will have a negative impact on the sales results of the entire industry, but we hope that this impact will not change the long-term positive trends we usually experience in the warmer months of the year – emphasizes Marta Fryzowska.

- At this difficult time, from a business level, we focus on making the most of our strengths and supporting sales through effective merchandising and marketing activities. From a human perspective, we provide assistance to those in need by monitoring the situation and looking for areas where our involvement is most effective – VRG Vice President adds.

In response to the outbreak of war on Poland's eastern border, VRG has initiated a number of actions aimed at supporting the Ukrainians. Apart from helping its employees, VRG donated PLN 200k to Polish Humanitarian Action (100k from VRG and another 100k from W.KRUK). Individual brands also regularly provide clothing for refugees sheltering in our country.

The spring – summer offer of the VRG brands is already available in selected stationery stores and online, and will gradually be introduced throughout the chain. In Vistula and Wólczanka the new collections will make their debut in several cities in new store formats that have been opened in recent months.

In January this year an expanded store, which enables the presentation of the whole assortment of the Wólczanka brand, was opened in the Silesia City Center in Katowice. In the following months, analogical formats made their debut in Arkadia in Warsaw, CH Focus in Zielona Góra, and City Center in Rzeszów. The second half of the year will also see further refreshed, larger, and modernised Vistula stores (the first was opened by the Group in December in Silesia). Their characteristic element is the presentation of the collection on one level and a separate space for the Vistula Woman collection (the so-called corner).

Below is additional information about each brand's collection.

Vistula

Just as in the autumn - winter of 2021 season, this spring in Vistula stores customers will find new proposals from both men's and women's collections. Although formal wear is the brand's flagship product, Vistula also offers a wide range of clothing designed with rest and relaxation in mind. Thus, the collection includes loose, informal pants as well as blouses. The collections are characterized by the use of the highest quality of fabrics and materials: specially selected cotton, wool, and linen.

The aesthetics of the collection refers to seaside landscapes, cliffs, and sandy beaches. The designs combine clear and strong lines with subdued, gentle colors. All of it is complemented by classic navy blue and black. Spring 2022 collection was created in modular concept so that official suits can be combined with comfortable sneakers, and formal shirts in subdued colors can be matched with loose bomber jackets. Thanks to this approach, customers can create their own unique creations, ensuring comfort and a timeless look.

Bytom

For several seasons, the brand has been developing its collection in the RETRO FUTURE style, combining patterns and fabrics from the past years with contemporary style and technologies. In the collection, we can find a wide range of suits made of various fabrics, from those, which are stylistically reminiscent of the post-war cinema gentlemen, through technologically advanced fabrics possessing all the parameters which guarantee no crumpling, breathability, stretchability etc. Following the spirit of the time and responding to clients' needs Bytom created several proposals of new classics - suits sewn in a new form. The collection also includes jackets: from classic through extremely comfortable, soft, airy, linen proposals.

Characteristic lines in the collection refer to the Japanese art of woodcuts (NA FALI) or one of the trends of neo-impressionism (BYTOM W PUNKT). As a part of the capsules, the brand also offers another edition with the motif of iconic comic books with Captain Żbik (CAPTAIN ŻBIK COLLECTION) and a line of clothes depicting Pampalini known from animations created in 1975-80 (PAMPALINI COLLECTION).

Bytom is also consistently introducing denim to its collection. This time, in the brand's showrooms and e-commerce website customers will find catana jackets, made of light denim, or denim pants in different colors. The line has been supplemented with a collection with a slightly sporty character, whose leitmotif is op-art style graphics.

Wólczanka

This season, in addition to classic shirts known across Poland, the brand has prepared, among others, dresses, pants, sweaters, t-shirts, and timeless denim in versions for her and for him. The collection refers back to the roots, presenting semi-formal fashion designs that allow customers to compose timeless outfits - for the return to the office or for weekend walks.

Wólczanka proposes to change the classic office dress code for less official but still elegant sets. The men's offer includes 5-pocket pants and chinos, jackets made of soft fabric, ideal for spring shirts, light sweaters, and cardigans. The collection for women includes minimalist pencil skirts, pants, shirts, and delicate jackets.

The brand has also prepared an urban collection, with a rich palette of energizing colors. In the summer, the brand will also offer designs referring to nature. In the assortment, customers will also find swimsuits, shorts, sunglasses, and summer accessories.

Deni Cler

Deni Cler has been combining Italian design with Polish craftsmanship for years. Founded in Mantua, Italy, the brand has been a synonym of elegance and top quality for half a century. The brand's proposal for spring and summer this year is full of energy and intense colors. Entitled "Manifesto del Colore", the collection is one of the most daring proposals in the brand's history. This is how Deni Cler opens the second half-century of the brand's existence and a new chapter in design.

This year's collection is created with the environment in mind. The hallmark of Deni Cler is quality - the brand works with selected manufacturers and fabric suppliers from renowned Italian manufactories. "Manifesto del Colore" consists of six capsules, introduced systematically every month. The capsules are titled after flowers, together they create a coherent explosion of color and energy, focusing on the customer and her needs, betting on eclectic combinations.

W.Kruk

This spring-summer season W.KRUK's wide jewelry offer includes the new Preludium jewelry collection. Made in silver and studded with colorful zircons the Preludium Butterfly jewelry was inspired by the butterfly motif.

The brand's stores will also offer a new collection of accessories: women's handbags and silk scarves with original designs inspired by its leading jewelry collection and, as usual, designed by the brand's creative team.

Spring is also the time of premieres of new watch models. New models of the best Swiss brands will appear in the W.KRUK offer. Historically, watches from the highest luxury segment have proven (similarly to luxury jewelry) to be resistant to the pandemic and related downturns in shopping centers. Interest in this part of the offer was not diminished by the war in Ukraine.

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VRG S.A. (former name Vistula Group S.A.) has been listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 1993. The VRG S.A. Capital Group specializes in the design and distribution of high quality fashion collections for men and women and jewelry. It owns highly recognizable trademarks in five main lines: Vistula, Bytom, Wólczanka, Deni Cler Milano (DCG S.A.) and the oldest jewelry brand in Poland W.KRUK (W.KRUK S.A.). The VRG S.A. Capital Group focuses on brand management, design of clothing and jewelry and development of its own sales network in both main segments (clothing and jewelry). Since 2000, the basis of VRG S.A.'s strategy has been to realize the vision of a "House of Brands" and a distributor in the retail market.

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Media Contact:

VRG S.A.  Press Office

biuroprasowe@vrg.pl