Nude Project doubles sales and will grow with new stores in Italy, Spain and Portugal

Starting the year with one store and ending it with seven. Doubling the size of the workforce in twelve months. Increasing turnover by 130% in 2023, reaching 26 million euros. Going from selling only sweatshirts to dressing their customers from head to toe. Creating a successful podcast that already has 200,000 views and features famous personalities. Launching a clothing collection with Playboy that Madonna herself has worn. Surpassing 800,000 followers on both Instagram and TikTok.

These are just some of the milestones achieved in 2023 by Nude Project, the urban clothing brand founded in 2019 in Barcelona by Bruno Casanovas and Álex Benlloch, two very young marketing students who, without needing to raise a single round of funding, have managed to build a success story in a very short time, with nearly 500,000 garments sold last year and an average order ticket of 77 euros.

A successful communication strategy on social media with which they have connected with the youngest audience has been the basis that has allowed Nude Project to become one of the fastest-growing Spanish fashion brands, but also their motto By artists, for artists, with which they have had the ability to associate with icons of the music world such as Argentine rapper Trueno and Rauw Alejandro. Madonna, Bad Gyal, Quevedo, Paco León, Bizarrap, Peso Pluma, Aitana, or Ester Expósito are other famous personalities who have worn and been photographed in their clothes, contributing to viralizing the brand, which also relies on other original strategies such as the Nude Tour ---events, parties, and opening of ephemeral stores they hold in different cities--- or the launch of their own beer brand, La Desnuda.

Casanovas and Benlloch began leading this mix of design, original ideas, and accelerated growth at just 19 years old from their room, but today, five years later, they do so from modern offices in the 22@ district that they want to turn "into the best creative agency in Spain." In 2023 alone, they hired 65 people, which means doubling the workforce, now made up of 130 young people just over 20 years old, although the founders highlight their willingness to now bet on incorporating more senior talent to strengthen the company in certain areas.

The sharp increase in the number of employees responds to the fact that 2023 was a whirlwind year for Nude Project. The brand started the year with only one physical store, located on Fuencarral street in Madrid, but closed it with seven establishments ---two of them located outside Spain---, to which an eighth location was added last January, inaugurated in Bilbao. Thus, la company now has a presence in Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, La Roca Village, Malaga, Milan, Lisbon and Bilbao. All stores are owned and, before summer, the network will grow with a new establishment in Ibiza, although this year the focus will be on establishing itself in new cities in Italy and Portugal. "We were very afraid to go abroad; we didn't know how the brand was going to be received," explain the founders, who feel "super proud" of the work done.

"The challenge has been incredible. Italy is a very difficult market and we are very happy with how we are performing in Milan," says Álex Benlloch, who handles the financial side of the company, while Casanovas leads the creative part. The entrepreneurs prefer not to venture to say how many stores they plan to open in 2024, but they anticipate that in this retail aspect they will follow an "oil stain" strategy, deepening in the three countries where they are already present.

The rapid opening of these seven new stores has caused a radical change in Nude Project's revenue source. Thus, the brand has gone from being 100% online to obtaining 38% of its turnover from the retail channel, with total sales reaching 26 million euros last year, a 130% increase compared to the 11 million euros earned in 2022. "It's an overwhelming figure," admits Casanovas, who prefers not to make sales estimates for this year. He does express his desire to maintain this 40%-60% sales mix in favor of online in the future, a distribution he considers healthy because "Internet sales, where we come from, have no ceiling," he states.

Currently, Nude Project already sells its garments in more than one hundred countries, although Spain remains its main market, generating 60% of the turnover. Portugal is in second position, followed by Germany, Italy, the United States, and the Netherlands. "We want to be a brand with international projection; it's dizzying, but little by little, with a pickaxe and shovel strategy, we are achieving it," says Casanovas.

Nude Project's website almost collapsed during the last Black Friday campaign, when all expectations were exceeded. More than 2,000 stockouts occurred, which prevented them from sending customers the garments they had purchased because they were not available. The entrepreneurs managed to turn this IT problem, which affected 2% of orders, into a loyalty or engagement tool with the brand: not only did they refund the affected customers, but they also sent them a letter acknowledging the error and gave each of them a free garment, which cost the company 50,000 euros. "With this action, we want to show that we are here for the long term. For us, it is a priority to care for and earn the customer's trust. We are a brand that wants to persist," highlights Benlloch.

Another driver of Nude Project's growth in 2023 has been product diversification, as in the last quarter the brand launched collections of seven new product families that go beyond its t-shirts and sweatshirts. "Now we are a full look brand," highlights Bruno Casanovas, referring to the fact that Nude Project also sells trousers, coats, knit sweaters, shirts, polo shirts, underwear, swimwear, and accessories, such as caps and bags. The challenge for 2024 is the launch of the first shoe collections, the entrepreneurs announce, which will start with the commercialization of three models of unisex sneakers. The brand's garments are manufactured, basically, in Portugal, Turkey, and China, although the company also has some suppliers in Catalonia for ultra-fast replenishments.

According to Casanovas and Benlloch, who own 100% of the capital, Nude Project "has been profitable since the first year," which has allowed them to reinvest profits to finance growth. "We have not distributed any dividends; we have reinvested everything," they assure. In this sense, they add that they have not needed to raise any funding rounds so far. "As of today, we do not have it planned, but we do not rule anything out if we find the ideal partner," they emphasize.