Hugo Boss CEO optimistic about holiday sales

NEW YORK, Nov 16 (Reuters): Hugo Boss AG expects good sales in the United States and Europe this holiday season despite lingering economic uncertainty and the eurozone crisis. "The buying behavior is better than the mood," Chief Executive Claus-Dietrich Lahrs told Reuters in an interview in New York Wednesday. The German fashion group recently announced a big push to open more of its own stores and rely less on sales to department stores. In the United States, that means opening another 20 stores by 2015, on top of its current 42 locations. "Long term, I continue to see the United States as a marketplace where we have strong growth momentum," Lahrs said, citing a population that is younger than Europe's and whose taste for luxury and high-end clothing is still growing. Lahrs predicted the crisis in the euro zone would resolve itself over time given the benefits of a shared currency and said it has not dampened appetite for Boss clothing. While best known for its stylish men's suits, Boss is pushing more aggressively into women's clothing, which now makes up about 10 percent of sales. Lahrs said that could reach 15 percent by 2015.