Jones Snags Brian Atwood
Jones Group Inc. has acquired the majority of the Brian Atwood brand, extending its relationship with the footwear designer, whose contemporary B Brian Atwood line, launched in 2011, is in a licensed partnership with Jones. Jones did not disclose the size of the majority stake or the sum it paid to acquire the 11-year-old business.
Jones and Atwood are forming a joint venture, which owns the intellectual property of the brand and its existing licenses. Atwood will retain a minority stake in the company that bears his name. Jones plans to help further build the Brian Atwood brand and expand it into new categories, which are likely to range from jewelry to apparel and help transform the designer into a global lifestyle label.
Spenders Love Experiential Luxury
Experiential luxury is gaining a stronger foothold in the minds of consumers than discretionary spending on high-end goods just for the sake of ownership, according to a study on “Luxe Redux: Raising the Bar for Selling of Luxuries”. From Jean-Marc Bellaiche, a senior partner at BCG, experiential luxury now makes up almost 55 percent of total luxury spending worldwide and, year over year, has grown 50 percent faster than sales of high-end goods.
“This is a changing market…. The recipe for success in the last few years is not the recipe for success for future years,” Bellaiche said. He emphasized that companies must reinvent themselves. He pointed to the U.S. market where luxury firms are still missing many sales opportunities. Bellaiche also noted that Amazon has 20 percent of the U.S. e-commerce business, yet many luxury brands that BCG works with are surprised by how big a player Amazon is.
One area that should be top of mind is the merging boundaries of offline and online shopping patterns, given the digital revolution that is taking place.
Gap Teams with Todd
Gap has teamed with men’s wear designer Todd Snyder for its latest pop-up shop in New York City. Snyder, an alumni of Gap and J. Crew, helped with the installation and curation of the temporary shop on Fifth Avenue and 54th Street in New York, which offers the summer collection of Gap + Threadless. Threadless is a Chicago-based company that works with emerging artists to produce unique T-shirt designs.
The shop will remain in place through June 30, and on Thursday, Threadless will host an event there featuring several of the artists and its chief executive officer, Tom Ryan. The shop features 16 men’s and 10 women’s designs that retail for $29.95.
– Taneisha Jordan
Source & Photo: WWD
