Cloak Closing

[djrajio]

Curtains for Cloak

Alexandre Plokhov on the decision to close up shop

December 18, 2006?Friday was a sad day in menswear, as one of New York's most lauded indie designers, Alexandre Plokhov, announced he would be shuttering Cloak after Spring 2007 shipments were delivered. Reasons for the move are still murky, though it's clear both partnership disputes and sales played a role. Plokhov declined to speak about the news on Friday, but did agreed to answer a few questions over email.

The news comes as quite a surprise. How long has this been in the works?
I have been thinking about exiting Cloak for about a year. However, the final decision to pull the plug was made two weeks ago.

What does it say about the state of fashion when even a CFDA award?winner such as yourself can't stay in business?
The decision to end my involvement in Cloak was mine only?it had nothing to do with the state of contemporary fashion. I think fashion is in rather good shape. What comes out of Paris and Tokyo continues to fascinate and surprise me.

Looking back, is there anything you would've done differently?
Aesthetically, I am very proud of what we had accomplished?I would not alter a single stitch or change a single look. Whatever came down the runway or made its way to the retailers was a product of occasional inspiration, sheer determination, and hard work. On another note, Spring 2007 was probably my best collection to date?we had a great time doing it. The fact that a tiny group of single-minded individuals (Cloak's staff has never numbered more than five people) can make their voice heard is still amazing to me.

Do you have any advice for other independent designers?
Get a great lawyer to read through anything you are about to sign.

So what now?
It's hard to say, but learning a foreign language as well as developing a hobby would make for a good start. I always thought that gardening is very chic!

? Staff

Well this certainly sucks....

[minomni]

Re: Men.Style.com: Curtains for Cloak

yeah [:(] agent l forecasted this potential development a while ago, so it does not come as a surprise - still disappointing.

[xcoldricex]

Re: Men.Style.com: Curtains for Cloak

spring 2007 the best? come on now....

[Faust]

Re: Men.Style.com: Curtains for Cloak



[quote user="xcoldricex"]spring 2007 the best? come on now....
[/quote]

Hehe.

That's not the line that scared me. This one did, "Get a good lawyer..." I really wonder what's going on behind the curtain... Actually, now the lame SS07 makes total sense. A little FU to the investors?

I heard several months ago that Alexander will no longer design as "Cloak," but will rather put out mens and womens under his own name. I didn't put 2+2 together back then, thinking that Alex owns his label outright, but now I'm not sure... I wish him luck - despite several problems that plagued his collections he was STILL by far the most interesting designer to come out of the US in the recent years (and a fellow Russian expat!).

I really hope Agent_L can comment on this. (I also sense a trip to A, maybe they know something).

[darkanimal]

Re: Men.Style.com: Curtains for Cloak

Adieu Cloak. I first started hearing about this rumor in another message board... I just didn't expect it to be this soon. Oh well, all good things most come to an end.

[bakla]

Re: Men.Style.com: Curtains for Cloak

I wonder who exactly are/were his partners? Robert Geller was still a partner, I believe, despite his not being active in the design of the line, while Humberto Ramos of Opening Ceremony was definitely a partner for the store.

[keith]

Cloak Closing

--post screwed up--

[sbw4224]

Re: Cloak Closing



Just read this myself as well. It is definitely a bad blow for the American menswear losing such a great line (although the last two collections have been slacking). Cloak is one of the labels that first made me very interested in fashion, and I will definitely always appreciate the aesthetic of the previous seasons.

It is pretty obvious that they had serious legal and financial troubles. I guess that just reinforces my opinion that if you are in the designing business, you need to hire a good firm or business team to run the company. Demeulemeester handed over business responsiblities, and it seems to be working for her. Another reason could be lack of sales overseas. I know for a fact that Cloak did not do that well in London, and I am not sure if they had even close to a strong presence in Europe in terms of stockists. How was Cloak received in Japan?

[Faust]

Re: Cloak Closing

[quote user="sbw4224"]

Just read this myself as well. It is definitely a bad blow for the American menswear losing such a great line (although the last two collections have been slacking). Cloak is one of the labels that first made me very interested in fashion, and I will definitely always appreciate the aesthetic of the previous seasons.

It is pretty obvious that they had serious legal and financial troubles. I guess that just reinforces my opinion that if you are in the designing business, you need to hire a good firm or business team to run the company. Demeulemeester handed over business responsiblities, and it seems to be working for her. Another reason could be lack of sales overseas. I know for a fact that Cloak did not do that well in London, and I am not sure if they had even close to a strong presence in Europe in terms of stockists. How was Cloak received in Japan?

[/quote]

Cloak is very well received in Japan, at least judging by the number of Japanese stocklists on their webstie. Europe is another story (even though the powerful Colette carried the line). The one fashion show Cloak staged in Paris was a dud. I am surprised there were no Russian stocklists - there is definitely enough PR to sell this in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

We now have two similar threads going. I'll try merging.

[deuxmille]

Re: Cloak Closing

I know for a fact that Cloak did not do that well in London, and I am not sure if they had even close to a strong presence in Europe in terms of stockists. How was Cloak received in Japan?

Cloak certainly doesn't have a big presence in Tokyo (I can't say for the whole country...) at all . Only a few stores carry pieces and the selection is very limited. There's probably more CDiem and CCP stockists than Cloak around here.

[casem]

Re: Cloak Closing

Wow, this sucks, just when I was getting nostalgic over at the Helmut Lang thread now this too! Oh well, I guess it's the way fashion goes, there's always someone else to discover (just getting into Ann for me). It's too bad SS 07 is the last season, even though I defended it when it first came out, comparing it now to other collections it's just really boring and I don't see anything I really want. I'm glad at least I was able to get some good stuff this season. It's respectable that Plokhov never caved by selling his business to one of the big companies and did it on his own to the end. I think all the disenfranchised designers, Jil Sander, Helmut Lang, and Plokhov should get together to start a new fashion company!

[bakla]

Re: Cloak Closing



[quote user="casem83"]Wow, this sucks, just when I was getting nostalgic over at the Helmut Lang thread now this too! Oh well, I guess it's the way fashion goes, there's always someone else to discover (just getting into Ann for me). It's too bad SS 07 is the last season, even though I defended it when it first came out, comparing it now to other collections it's just really boring and I don't see anything I really want. I'm glad at least I was able to get some good stuff this season. It's respectable that Plokhov never caved by selling his business to one of the big companies and did it on his own to the end. I think all the disenfranchised designers, Jil Sander, Helmut Lang, and Plokhov should get together to start a new fashion company![/quote]

I highly doubt Cloak could have been sold to anyone because I doubt the sales were that high yet. I believe this to be the case, because I know of companies with slightly less than 10 million a year in sales that "still aren't big enough." It's just speculation, of course, but young brands like these barely have enough time to be really profitable in this segment of the industry in so short a span of time - unless they have really good backing. But on a consumer level, how many people here bought Cloak at full price? We talk about waiting for the sale season a lot. How many of us went to the sample sales only to find entire production runs on sale, not just samples? I don't believe Cloak's sellthroughs were like Dior Homme where items sell out in the beginning of the season at full price, and you can't find your size anywhere. Plus I totally believe he overexpanded in a scant two years: a store in Soho and a wholesale shoe line just seemed like too many things to juggle when you're dealing with retail establishments. I was surprised at the Barneys warehouse sale to see how many of those shoes were left over at the end of the season.

Sadly, in this industry, despite having plenty of both, talent and press aren't enough. Hopefully Alexandre might just be plotting his own line under his own name as faust originally reported.

[Faust]

Re: Men.Style.com: Curtains for Cloak



[quote user="bakla"]I wonder who exactly are/were his partners? Robert Geller was still a partner, I believe, despite his not being active in the design of the line, while Humberto Ramos of Opening Ceremony was definitely a partner for the store.
[/quote]

Yea, I know of those two. I wonder if there was someone else providing financial support. Unless he is still feuding with Geller, I don't know what his "get a good lawyer" line can mean. I wonder if I can have my wife look up any lawsuits in her legal research database. Hmmm...

As far as selling the company or profitability figures, who knows. Without looking at financial statements one could only guess. The shoes did pretty badly at Barneys, I agree. As far as the clothes, I am really not sure. The prices certainly went up a lot since FW04, as I'm sure did his profit margins (I did not see a corresponding increase in quality, and many of the details, such as zippers, buttons, pullers, snaps were identical).

Anyway, boys, hold on to your old Cloak for investment purposes...

[onemancult]

Re: Men.Style.com: Curtains for Cloak

I wonder if the Cloak capsule collection for Spring '07 is still happening... I sure hope so.

[drexl]

Re: Men.Style.com: Curtains for Cloak

[quote user="Faust"]

As far as selling the company or profitability figures, who knows. Without looking at financial statements one could only guess. The shoes did pretty badly at Barneys, I agree. As far as the clothes, I am really not sure. The prices certainly went up a lot since FW04, as I'm sure did his profit margins (I did not see a corresponding increase in quality, and many of the details, such as zippers, buttons, pullers, snaps were identical).

Anyway, boys, hold on to your old Cloak for investment purposes...

[/quote]

In the movie Seamless, Alexander mentionned always being on the brink of profitability, so I don't know if the closing is due to finances (alot more labels have been operating in the red for a longer time than Cloak), and I'm pretty sure his sales volume has increased since when the movie was shot.