BRAND EXPANSION
By Sophia Chabbot
Nicole Miller has gone beyond clothes, and is launching products
in a wide range of categories.
The Nicole Miller company may be 25 years old, but its loyal consumers
are just getting a taste of what it has offer as a lifestyle brand.
In late 2005, chief executive officer Bud Konheim announced the
firm’s all-out accessories initiative, signing licenses for
handbags, footwear, belts and jewelry, as well as other related
categories in a bid to boost the brand’s revenue by 25 percent.
In the past year, the firm has been ironing out the kinks, such
as changing its fashion jewelry licensee from Maurice Mac to Gigi
Accessories, and the accessories seeds sown by Konheim and the Miller
tem are set to bloom this fall on shelves at Bloomingdale’s,
Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and other retailers.
Categories now include women’s shoes produced by Camuto Group,
eyewear by Signature, belts with Roma Industries and handbags by
NM Designs. Miller also licenses men’s shirting and ties with
A.W. Change Corp.; umbrellas, pet products, baby and cosmetic bags
with Essex; women’s golf accessories with Glove It, and several
others for a total of 34 licenses. Included in that queue are 10
licensing agreements to produce home goods for Bed Bath & Beyond,
with Liza Saunders, licensing manager at Nicole Miller said had
been a vary lucrative niche for fashion firm.
“Everybody’s in the start-up phases” commented
Sanders about the fashion accessories, who added that there has
been a soft launch of handbags, belts, and shoes for spring in the
firm’s SoHo store in Manhattan.
And even at this early stage of the spring shopping season, the accessories
are already a hit, according to Rogers Pimenta, general manager of
the Nicole Miller Soho boutique. “The bags are doing awesome.”
He said. “Just earlier, one of my good customers came in and
bought a dress. We added the neck lace and shoes, and the first thing
she said was, “Wow, the necklace really made the look”
That’s the thing. It’s all complementary to the clothes.”
Styles for spring included large leather satchels in cutout metallic
leather, clutches in Miller’s crinkled metallic taffeta to
pair with her evening dresses in the signature fabric, oversize
leather belts with an ethnic feel to layer over tunics and dresses
and skinny stiletto heels that wrap around the ankle several times.
This year also marks the introduction of Nicole Miller fine jewelry.
Produced by World Trade Jewelers, based in New York, the line includes
gold pendants in Celtic motifs and elaborate crosses encrusted with
pave diamonds. As with all the accessories categories, Miller herself
had a huge amount of input in the design.
For fall, Miller sent all of her licensees in the direction of
South America, a major influence on the fall read-to-wear collection.
“The jewelry represents who she is,” said World Trade
Jewelry designer Maria Fryda Velarde. “I talk to [Nicole]
about what her style is. She likes to approve everything and details
are very important to her.”
“Nicole is who she is because she’s so involved,”
said David Yallouz, ceo of Gigi Accessories, “my designers do
the final touches, but it’s her vision. When you talk to her,
you realize she’s genius. She knows what she’s doing.”
Kate Nienen, designer for NM Designs, which produced Nicole Miller
handbags, had a similar experience working closely with Miller and
her team. Based on Miller’s South American inspiration, Neinen
sourced some vintage-looking, intricate hardware, which Miller just
loved, according to Nienen.
The fine jewelry will be launched in May on Shop NBC. All the accessories
will be shown at the Nicole Miller runway show on Feb.2 at the tents
at Bryant Park during New York Fashion Week. – Sophia Chabbott
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