A Designer Triple Threat From Nine West
By Marc Karimzadeh
NEW YORK — In a world where designer liaisons are becoming de rigueur, Nine West is the latest to catch the collaboration bug.
This fall, the Nine West Footwear Corp. will kick off a program of fashion collaborations with both established and up-and-coming designers. For the first three-month installment, which will launch in September, the Jones Apparel Group division has tapped designers Vivienne Westwood, Thakoon and Sophia Kokosalaki. This confirms a WWD report in January.
Each designer collection will be available only at Nine West's 20 top doors and Macy's 40 top doors, as well as through ninewest.com and macys.com.
The three designers have spent the last few months creating exclusive, limited-edition collections for Nine West. The project aims to enhance the brand's image, which has lost some of its luster in recent years, and lift its appeal to consumers. At the same time, Nine West's distribution network can help the designers, who have little or no distribution in the U.S., bring their styles to a consumer they wouldn't reach otherwise.
Teaming up with outside designers has become a major marketing tool for many retailers: Hennes & Mauritz has made waves with its collaborations with Karl Lagerfeld and Stella McCartney, and Target, which has successfully been creating collections with Isaac Mizrahi and Liz Lange, recently kicked off its Go International initiative with London designer Luella Bartley.
Stacy Lastrina, Jones' executive vice president for marketing and creative services, said Nine West customers have an "ongoing craving for constant new stimulation," which prompted executives to come up with this initiative.
"In the most recent research for Nine West, we learned that the consumer loves the brand and relationship, but her buying is all about impulse," Lastrina noted. "She loves the stimulation and sense of discovery. She likes to be exposed to things that others maybe can't have. To keep our brand connected to her, we believe in bringing in designers to do exclusive products in a limited distribution capacity."
Jones retained Designer Management Agency, a consulting firm here specializing in connecting fashion businesses with other business segments, to help develop the strategy and marketing initiatives associated with the program.
"At the essence, it was about creating a strategy to elevate the perception of the Nine West brand through the development of designer affiliations and product design, in-store environments, marketing communications and special events," Marc Beckman, DMA's president, said. "One of the core values for Nine West is discovery, and I think she will be pleasantly surprised to find this kind of a product offering come fall 2006."
Beckman added, "I think it's going to have a very positive impact on the perception of the brand from both the retail community and from consumers. You are coming in with product that people want, and offering it at a level of distribution where they know the product but haven't been able to buy it."
According to Debbie Woloshin, Jones' senior vice president of marketing, each designer was given a creative carte blanche and asked to come up with 11 designs, including footwear, handbags, ready-to-wear and other accessories.
"We went to the designers and said, 'We want you to tell us what you think is great,'" Woloshin said. "We definitely wanted to offer footwear and handbags, but beyond that, we wanted them to come up with the great piece that they think best represents them and the trends this season."
Westwood's collection for Nine West will kick off the initiative with a Sept. 1 delivery, and includes quirky interpretations of her signature tartans with an overlay graffiti print on gladiator boots or a mini cardigan. Suggested retail prices range from $225 to $500.
"Many American celebrities wear my clothes, and while the name is well known in the States, few American women have had access to the clothes or accessories," said the London-based Westwood, who also has begun a major push for her own label in America. "Teaming up with Nine West gives the opportunity to many more American women to discover what it feels like to] wear Vivienne Westwood."
Westwood's collection will be followed by Thakoon on Oct. 1. The line includes a white leather "T-shirt" handbag, a patent leather demi-wedge with a lace overlay and even a clear plastic umbrella covered in lace.
"For me, it's about reaching the people that wouldn't normally be able to find the collection, because we are still limited in our distribution and the price point may be too high for some who want to get into the Thakoon aesthetic," designer Thakoon Panichgul, who is based here, said. "I explored some of the ideas of my past collection, such as utilizing lace with patent leather and PVC."
The Thakoon for Nine West line will be priced to retail from $180 to $400. "Our hope is that there is a halo effect on the entire brand."
Stacy Lastrina, Jones Apparel Group
Besides the overall experience of working with a larger corporation, the financial reward is an additional boon, Panichgul added. "As you grow your business, the cash flow is always a big concern," he said. "This injects some money into the company outside of the biannual market time frame."
London-based Kokosalaki's collection will round out the first Nine West collaboration. Her collection for the brand will launch in stores Nov. 1. Designs include a cashmere cape, a military jacket and handbags with antique hardware detailing. It will be priced from $200 to $450 retail.
"They [Jones] have the infrastructure to create designs that could be more difficult," Kokosalaki noted. "They were willing to try to get it right, and to explore all design possibilities. The sourcing was faster, as was the turnaround for samples. That's a luxury for a designer."
The experience, she added, was a testing ground of sorts for future expansion into the American market, as well as for accessories. "My main interest was to see the appeal it would have in the U.S. since I mostly sell in Europe," the designer said. "My accessories line is also in its infancy. I didn't have bags and have done shoes occasionally, so for me this is a test."
As part of the program, the designers each have created their own logos and packaging. Westwood, Panichgul and Kokosalaki also will work on the creative direction of the accompanying print advertising campaign. The ads will be photographed by Steven Klein and run in Vogue the month each collection is due to hit the sales floor.
Nine West's designer collaboration is different from other such initiatives. While the price points are lower than those of the designers' signature lines, they are not inexpensive, and for the most part, higher than Nine West's, where a shoe retails for $80 on average and a boot typically sells for less than $200.
"We didn't want to limit the materials and design parameters," Lastrina said. "This is about quality, and it is still much less expensive than any other designer collection. We have already had success in this arena with Easy Spirit's collaboration with Tara Subkoff. Her $600 boot sold out.
"Ultimately, the goal for us is creating an endurable and valuable experience for our consumers," Lastrina added.
This collaboration comes at a time of uncertainty at Jones, which announced on March 21 that it was putting itself on the auction block. Some sources speculate that a financial buyer could potentially spin off Nine West after buying Jones. Last week, Jones disclosed that Rhonda Brown, president and chief executive officer of its footwear, accessories and retail group, had left the company.
According to Lastrina, the changes will have no impact on the collaboration strategy. "It's business as usual at Jones Apparel Group, and we are already aggressively negotiating designers for this program for 2007."
Asked why the concept incorporates classifications beyond the core footwear, Lastrina said: "We believe the concept of a capsule collection versus just shoes is a much more timely approach for us, considering that the Nine West sportswear business is up over 300 percent over the past three years. The idea of doing something one-dimensional just didn't make sense to us."
At Macy's, the collections will be featured as a small merchandising presentation adjacent to the shoe department.
"This gives the Nine West customer, who is truly a fashion customer, high-end fashion at more affordable pricing," said Martine Reardon, executive vice president of marketing for Macy's East. "The designers will make appearances at Herald Square, and the customer who loves Vivienne Westwood, for instance, can now buy something of hers and meet her, as well.
"Nine West is clearly a fashion business that's more affordable," Reardon added. "Now the customer who is really fashion conscious, who has a little more disposable income and who may not have been looking at Nine West, may say, 'Wow, they have really raised the bar.'"
In time for the new collaboration, Nine West plans to unveil a new retail concept expected to open in San Francisco in September. Lastrina said the concept is a result of an extensive study of the Nine West consumer's motivation to purchase, and the environment most conducive to impulse buys. Lastrina declined to disclose volume projections, but said: "Going into this, the intent is not necessarily volume, but it is about nurturing and enhancing our relationships with our customers and constantly giving them new reasons to fall in love with Nine West. My expectations are that we will sell out of each collection."
Nine West plans to launch this initiative with a runway show at Skylight Studios on May 31, which will take place in a partnership with Vogue and Macy's.
"Our hope is that there is a halo effect on the entire brand," Lastrina said. "We have what is considered a marketing tactic about maintaining and enhancing the relationship with your influential consumers. We keep our influential consumers engaged and give them a reason to come back."
this will be an utter failure.
