I know I said I was stepping away but....
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Yohji's 'Coming Soon': Designer Joins the Rush To Launch Second Lines
Published: Friday, September 14, 2007
By Miles Socha with contributions by Akira Miura
PARIS ? Even esoteric designers like Yohji Yamamoto are joining the contemporary stampede.
Yamamoto is launching his youngest, most affordable offering yet,
called Coming Soon. The "supercasual" collection, licensed to Italian
manufacturer SINV SpA, is designed to propel the Japanese designer
into the big-volume leagues. The partners, who signed a 10-year pact,
expect that the women's and men's collection has the potential to
generate wholesale volume of 200 million euros, or $276 million at
current exchange, over the length of the contract.
Yamamoto's new line is the latest sign of a vibrant market for designer
second collections ? often positioned in the hot contemporary zone and
aimed at aspirational customers. During the past year, the likes of
John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Vera Wang and Daryl Kerrigan all have
entered the fray with lower-priced collections. Meanwhile, Giorgio
Armani, Chloé and Dolce & Gabbana all have fine-tuned or
repositioned their second brands in recent years, seeking to kick-start
growth and access a broader base of consumers. And brands such as
Quiksilver, Imitation of Christ and Hollywould are jumping into the
contemporary market, which has been a popular category at retail from
Dallas to Dubai.
Designer firms ? recently focused on ultraexpensive, exclusive products
in a booming luxury climate ? are now keen to reach younger customers,
too, and are less reticent about assigning licenses for the sportswear
category. For example, Galliano partnered with IT Holding's Ittierre
unit, a pioneer in launching designer jeans and younger lines in the
early Nineties, while McQueen signed up with SINV, which also produces
and distributes See by Chloé, Moschino Jeans and Red Valentino.
"See by Chloé will be a major priority for us in the coming years,"
Ralph Toledano, chairman and chief executive officer of Chloé, said
Thursday. "In the last two years, the See by Chloé growth has been
really impressive."
Toledano said he would soon extend the See by Chloé brand into new
categories, unveiling an in-house leather goods line in January and a
footwear collection in July. "Sunglasses will probably be the next
project," he added.
Massimo Braglia, ceo of privately owned SINV, said the company shifted
its focus in recent years to fashion-driven collections, a move which
drove 2006 revenues up 44.5 percent to 164 million euros, or $226.3
million. Sales are projected to climb to 175 million euros, or $241.5
million, this year.
But the fact that Yamamoto and SINV decided not to use the designer's
name on the Coming Soon label suggests that it is creative content, and
not only the status factor of a label, that is driving the second-line
business today. "We believe that the design should be more than
enough," Braglia said.
Yamamoto's first Coming Soon collection, with some 350 references and
an emphasis on jeans and knitwear, will be unveiled to the trade in
January during men's fashion week in Milan.
"It should be quite an affordable line. It's young and contemporary,"
Braglia said. "I think a line like this could have a really great
potential."
In an interview, Keizo Tamoto, Yamamoto's executive vice president and
ceo, said Coming Soon is targeted at young consumers looking to trade
up from streetwear to "something with a little bit of elegance, a more
simple way of dressing."
Tamoto allowed that Yamamoto's signature collection, mostly tailored,
is often so singular that, "if you buy a Yohji jacket, you need Yohji
pants and maybe you need also a Yohji shirt and shoes. It's a very
dangerous line." By contrast, Coming Soon is described as a
mix-and-match collection of easy-to-wear styles, from blouson jackets
to T-shirts and accessories.
The partners said the new line could be sold in as many as 800 doors in
Europe, mostly independent specialty stores, which compares with about
250 for Y's, Yamamoto's main sportswear collection. In America, Braglia
is gunning for about 100 select department stores and specialty
retailers over three years. Yohji Yamamoto Inc. will handle Japanese
distribution.
Prices have yet to be finalized, but Tamoto said most jeans would
retail from 150 euros, or $207, to 230 euros, or $317, with knitwear
averaging from 120 euros, or $165.60, to 200 euros, or $276. T-shirts
will start at about 70 euros, or $96.60.
Over the past five years, Yamamoto has been broadening the reach of his
brand with new apparel lines and product categories, including his Y-3
sportswear collection with Adidas, his luggage and accessories line
with Mandarina Duck and his fine jewelry with Mikimoto.
Yamamoto also has been expanding his retail network, with his largest
store in the world slated to open later this month in Antwerp, Belgium,
showcasing his signature line, the Y's range, fine jewelry and Limi
Feu, the collection of his daughter, who is showing her spring
collection during Paris Fashion Week. Next up is a unit on Gansevoort
Street in New York's Meatpacking District, slated to open in January,
followed by a three-level unit on Rue Cambon in Paris in March.
Tamoto noted that sales of Yohji Yamamoto and Y's in Japan have
remained unchanged for the last few years, at around 9 billion yen, or
$77 million. International sales total about 4 billion yen, or $34
million, including retail and wholesale.
While Yamamoto, 63, might not be considered a top-of-mind designer for
young people, SINV executives said they were attracted by his
international design credibility and the appeal of Japan's
anything-goes, youth-driven fashion culture.
And the Y-3 project underscored Yamamoto's keen instincts,
foreshadowing tightening links between fashion and sport, Braglia said.
"He understood first the potential of shoes and now how sport and
fashion could be mixed together," he said.
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