Columbia Sportswear CEO Tim Boyle told analysts last week that the Sorel brand will be the company’s fastest-growing brand in 2022 with a sales increase approaching 30 percent as the label continues its pivot away from being a purely winter brand. In FY21, for example, only 15 percent of Sorel’s $318.5 million in revenues were generated by insulated winter boots as the brand sold more fashion-forward styles. The brand’s sales were up 9 percent for the year and 9 percent in the final period when they reached $164 million.

In the broader picture, Columbia Sportswear reported impressive fourth quarter results on the strength of its Direct-To-Consumer and ecommerce businesses and a 160-basis-point improvement in gross margin to 52.2 percent despite persistent supply chain disruptions that negatively impacted wholesale revenues. Footwear sales jumped 12 percent to $284 million and Apparel/Equipment/Accessories revenues were 28 percent higher on a constant currency basis to $846 million. For the full 2021, Columbia reported 25 percent topline growth to $3.13 billion as DTC sales rose 33 percent to $1.46 billion and Wholesale improved 18 percent to $1.64 billion.

CEO Tim Boyle called the company’s order book for Summer/Fall 2022 “phenomenal,” adding the company is confident it has the right strategies in place to unlock additional potential this year and beyond despite continued logistics pressures and the likely closure of additional Asian factories. Columbia’s current FY22 outlook calls for 16-18 percent topline growth to a range of $3.63-3.69 billion, net income expansion of 1-7 percent to $359-379 million, a 3-9 percent EPS increase to a $5.50-5.80, and a 90-140 b.p. contraction in operating margin to 13.0-13.5 percent. The company is implementing mid-single digit price hikes in the U.S. this spring and high single, low double-digit increases on select Fall ’22 products.