Accent Group Limited is an Australian and New Zealand footwear and clothing retail, wholesaling and distribution company. It has more than 900 retail stores, along with 19 brands, and more than 20 online platforms. It is listed on the

Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd (ASX) is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary Exchange (organized market), securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or c ...

History

Accent Group began as a small New Zealand wholesaling business in 1988. In 2015, RCG Corporation acquired Accent Group for around $200 million. In November 2017, RCG Corporation was renamed Accent Group Limited. The company acquired several Australian fashion and footwear brands in the late 2010s and early 2020s. In April 2021, Accent Group entered an agreement to acquire the Glue Store retail business and the Next Athleisure's wholesale and distribution business for $13 million. Next Athleisure owned the brands Nude Lucy, Beyond Her, Lulu & Rose, Article One, and distributed the brands

Superga Superga ( or ) is a hill situated on the south bank of the river Po to the east of Turin in north-west Italy. At above sea level, it is one of the most prominent of the hills that ring the city. Superga is known for the Basilica of Superga a ...

, Ellesse,

Le Coq Sportif Le Coq Sportif (, "the athletic rooster") is a French sportswear and sports equipment manufacturer based in Entzheim. Founded in 1882 by Émile Camuset, the brand first issued items branded with its now-famous rooster trademark in 1948. The com ...

Kappa Kappa (; uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; , ''káppa'') is the tenth letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value of 20. It was d ...

, K-Way, Sebago and Napapijri. More than 400 Accent Group stores were closed for at least a month in 2020 due to lockdown restrictions brought on by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Restrictions between July and October 2020 caused it to miss expectations by $86 million, but the company benefited from an increase in online sales. The company reported a fourth consecutive year of record profit in the 2021 financial year. It recorded $1.14 billion in sales, an increase of 19.9% on the previous year. Accent Group reported a reduction in sales in the second half of 2021 due to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Between July and October, more than 400 of its 700 stores were required to close because of lockdowns. The business was affected by a drop in foot traffic in January 2022 due to the

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant Omicron (B.1.1.529) is a Variants of SARS-CoV-2, variant of SARS-CoV-2 first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa on 24 November 2021. It was first detected in Botswana and has ...

. The company decided against providing guidance for the first half of 2022 due to uncertainties around supply chains. However, fund manager Wilson Asset Management expected the company's performance to improve due to the easing of restrictions and increased foot traffic through its stores. In February 2024, Accent announced it would end its franchise model for its The Athlete's Foot brand. At the time, the company owned 73 Athlete's Foot stores and the remaining 62 were franchised. Accent would not renew franchise agreements which were set to expire over the next five years and would explore acquiring stores. In August 2024, British company

Frasers Group Frasers Group plc (formerly known as Sports Direct International plc) is a British retail, sport and intellectual property group, named after its ownership of the department store chain House of Fraser. The company is best known for trading pr ...

acquired a 14.65% stake in Accent Group. It increased its stake to 19.57% in April 2025 when the two companies entered an agreement for Accent to launch and operate the

Sports Direct Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited, trading as Sports Direct, is a British retail company owned by Frasers Group. The company was founded in 1982 by Mike Ashley (businessman), Mike Ashley and was originally based in Maidenhead, England. It specialises ...

chain in Australia and New Zealand for an initial term of 25 years. Accent plans to roll out at least 50 Sports Direct stores and an online store over the proceeding six years. As part of the deal, Accent also acquired Frasers’ discount online fashion marketplace, MySale, and will have access to Frasers portfolio of brands.

Brands

Original brands

* 4Workers is a workwear brand. The first store was opened in May 2021. * Article One is a modern

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

fashion label established in 2016. * Autry is a footwear brand with a 1980s American style. * Beyond Her is an Australian casual fashion label. * EXIE is an Australian women's active-streetwear label. * First Muse is a label of form-fitting casual wear. * Glue Store is an Australian premium fashion retailer. * Hype DC is an Australian and New Zealand sneaker shop chain. * ITNO is a

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

footwear label. * Stylerunner is a brand of women’s sportswear, activewear, and sneakers established in 2012. The brand was acquired by Accent Group in November 2019 after going into receivership. The brand's first flagship concept store opened in

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

, Sydney in March 2022. * Lulu & Rose is a contemporary nostalgia-themed womenswear label. * Nude Lucy is a Sydney casual womenswear label established in 2010. * PIVOT is an Australian clothing retail chain, selling a range of sportwear, casual wear and workwear. * Platypus is an Australian and New Zealand footwear retail chain established in 1998. , there were 167 Platypus stores in Australia and 34 in New Zealand. * SUBTYPE is a premium sneaker and apparel store established in Sydney in 2014. It has stores in Sydney, Melbourne,

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. * The Trybe is a children's fashion brand. The business was sold in 2024.

Licensed brands

* The Athlete's Foot is a Swiss footwear and apparel brand and retail chain. * CAT Footwear and Apparel is a brand of clothing for manual worksites based on the

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

Accent Group purchased the rights to the brand in 2010 and established its first retail store in

Werribee Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the local government area of the City of Wyndham. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census. Werrib ...

, Melbourne in 2009. Accent did not renew its CAT distribution agreement after it expired at the end of 2024. * Dr. Martens is an English footwear brand established in 2009. Accent Group established the brand's first factory outside the UK in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

in 1989 and remains the exclusive distributor of the brand in Australia and New Zealand. There are Dr. Martens stores in Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast and Adelaide. There are also two stores in Auckland and a store in Wellington. * Henleys is a British menswear and womenswear brand. * Herschel Supply Co. is a Canadian brand of backpacks and accessories. *

Hoka One One Hoka (stylized as HOKA and formerly known as Hoka One One) is a sportswear company that designs and markets running shoes. It was founded in 2009 in Annecy, France and had been based in Richmond, California before it was acquired by Deckers Bra ...

is a running shoe brand owned by Deckers Brands. Accent Group became the exclusive Australian distributor in 2022. * KWAY is a French waterproof jacket brand. *

is an Italian sportswear brand. *

is a French sportwear brand established in 1882. * Merrell is an American outdoor footwear brand. Accent Group obtained the rights to the brand in 2010 and opened 17 stores under its brand. * Palladium is a French footwear brand which Accent Group obtained the rights for in 2011. *

Reebok Reebok International Limited ( ) is an American footwear and clothing brand that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company which had bee ...

is an American sports footwear and apparel brand which Accent Group obtained the rights for in the second quarter of 2022. *

Saucony Saucony ( ) is an American brand of athletic footwear and apparel. Founded in 1898, the company is owned by Wolverine World Wide. Products commercialised by Saucony include footwear and clothing ranges, such as athletic shoes, jackets, hoodies, ...

is an American running footwear and apparel brand. * Sebago is an American brand of boating and deck shoes and

dress shoes A dress shoe (U.S. English) is a shoe to be worn at smart casual or more formal events. A dress shoe is typically contrasted to an athletic shoe. Dress shoes are worn by many as their standard daily shoes, and are widely used in dance, for part ...

. * Sneaker Lab is a South African brand of sneakers and other shoes which Accent Group has been distributing through its retail stores since 2018. *

Skechers Skechers USA, Inc. is an American multinational footwear and apparel company. Headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, it was founded in 1992 and is the third largest footwear brand in the world. History Skechers was founded in 1992 by R ...

is an American footwear brand and retail chain *

Sperry Sperry may refer to: Places In the United States: * Sperry, Iowa, community in Des Moines County * Sperry, Missouri *Sperry, Oklahoma, town in Tulsa County * Sperry Chalet, historic backcountry chalet, Glacier National Park, Montana * Sperry Glaci ...

is an American boat shoe brand which Accent Group has been distributing in Australia since 2014. * Stance is an American

sock A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the Calf (leg), calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. ...

underwear Underwear, underclothing, or undergarments are items of clothing worn beneath outer clothes, usually in direct contact with the skin, although they may comprise more than a single layer. They serve to keep outer clothing from being soiled ...

and T-shirt brand founded in December 2009, which Accent Group has been distributing since 2011. *

is an Italian tennis and shoe brand that was established in 1911. * Supra is an American skateboarding shoe brand. * Timberland is an American outdoor clothing and footwear brand and retail chain. There are three Timberland stores in Auckland and one in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. *

Vans Vans (originally called the Van Doren Rubber Company) is an American apparel, accessories, and skateboarding shoes brand, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and ...

is an American skateboarding footwear and fashion brand.

References

External links

Official website
{{Retailers in New Zealand Clothing retailers of Australia Clothing retailers of New Zealand Companies listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Companies based in Melbourne Retail companies established in 1988 New Zealand companies established in 1988