Alexander McQueen's new denim line

[kimair]

from wwd...

Alexander McQueen is building his brand at breakneck speed.

The designer, who in September unveiled a footwear line for Puma, will launch a second ready-to-wear collection called McQ – Alexander McQueen for fall 2006.

The denim-based collection will be for men and women and will include accessories, McQueen said in a statement late Friday. It will be produced by the Italian company SINV Spa.

"The focus of this collection will be younger and more renegade, but always signature McQueen," the designer said in the statement. "This partnership will add a new and inspiring dimension to the McQueen world."

The new rtw line comes hot on the rubber heels of McQueen's new collaboration with Puma. The Alexander McQueen Puma line will launch in 200 to 250 stores worldwide in January, including McQueen's flagships in London, New York and Milan.

McQueen parent Gucci Group has strongly encouraged its smaller brands to build their businesses by striking deals with outside companies. Gucci wants the brands, which also include Stella McCartney and Balenciaga, to be profitable by 2007.

The new McQueen line will hit 600 shop floors worldwide in June. A McQueen spokesman said the stores that will carry the line will include Neiman Marcus and Harvey Nichols, but not the McQueen flagships in New York, Milan and London. Prices will range from 495 pounds, or $870, for selected knitwear items to 60 pounds, or $105, for a T-shirt.

The collection will include denim jeans, jackets, trenches and miniskirts with special treatments and washes. It will also include knitwear, T-shirts, woolen coats and trousers made from washed and overdyed cottons.

The line will be produced and distributed under a five-year licensing agreement with SINV, which also makes See by Chloé, DKNY Jeans, Krizia Jeans and Moschino Jeans. Turnover at that company is 136 million euros, or $161 million at current exchange.

"This new license integrates perfectly with the SINV portfolio and boosts our presence in the high-quality prêt-à-porter industry," said Massimo Braglia, chief executive of SINV. Both companies declined to provide first-year sales projections.

[faust]

Let me be the first one to

[Spacemiu]

I think a diffusion line for younger people sounds nice. But why are the price so damn high?

[AlexN]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Down with diffusion.

[Someday]

Not sure what this will mean........if it is successful, the money raised could re-inject some vision back into his signature line, giving him a "cash-cow" buffer that will in turn allow him to take risks and be more creative again for the regular line.

Or, it could just make him greedier and convince him to continue even further into the same direction, chasing huge profits and broader distribution.

It sounded awfully expensive for a "spin-off" diffusion line. If it isn't successful....who knows?

[Pastry]

If his last two collections made me want to puke all over myself, then this...

[liberty33r1b]

i wonder what the accessories will look like.....sounds rather promising to me.

[softgrey]

it's sort of sad....he held out for so long...

but i think it will be successful...
it's the right customer for this type of line...

i expect skintight jns that look like leggings meant to be worn with stiletto's...
probably with a fair ammount of embellishment...


but isn't he a bit late to this?...
the market is already full of trashy designer denim......

[wyatt.]

i feel like he should concentrate on his signiture line before he should start getting distracted by consumerism.

gross

[tott]

Originally Posted by softgrey

the market is already full of trashy designer denim......

Amen!

[faust]

Originally Posted by softgrey

it's sort of sad....he held out for so long...

but i think it will be successful...
it's the right customer for this type of line...

i expect skintight jns that look like leggings meant to be worn with stiletto's...
probably with a fair ammount of embellishment...


but isn't he a bit late to this?...
the market is already full of trashy designer denim......

Softie, I learned that just when you think it's over... it's not, because you are infinitely smarter and ahead of the public, and because we are looking at fairly large economic forces that move very slowly, we are way ahead of the curve. To give you an analogy (albeit not a very close one), I was screaming "stock market bubble, stock market bubble" at least a year before it happened. It did happen, yes, but because I pulled out of it so early, I missed a ton of opportunities to make money. This is all a wave, and whoever is on top of the wave at the time it crashes will pay dearly. Might be McQueen, who knows . At any rate, that's not his money he's playing with - no big deal.

[Hye Park Lover]

God damn the Gucci group just wanting to cash in big time on all their designers therefore forcing them to go down undesirable roads just to meet their demands and killing any creative room they have. I hate how with the added pressure to bring in profit, they're making fashion about money, rather than creativity

[PrinceOfCats]

Diffuse my decals off.

[em 692]

Originally Posted by Someday:
Not sure what this will mean........if it is successful, the money raised could re-inject some vision back into his signature line, giving him a "cash-cow" buffer that will in turn allow him to take risks and be more creative again for the regular line.

...I know exactly what you mean. hopefully, with emphasis on the hopefully, this diffusion line will be successful and bring in profit, and they will be able to take more risks on the regular line, since they will be getting the profit from the diffusion line.

anyway... this is sort of expected after the Puma collaberation. it was just the starting point for his profit-making, and led into this...

[Scott]

The profit pressures are definitely more and more prevalent with each passing day. Sad for the mastery that is McQueen and sad for his fans to see him go this route.