NEW YORK (AP) — Midbrow retailer Kohl’s Corp. yesterday announced a union with Vera Wang, known for her $10,000 wedding gowns, to create a new fashion and lifestyle brand.
The exclusive brand called Very Vera by Vera Wang will be available in all 749 Kohl’s stores and on Kohls.com starting in fall 2007.
Under the long-term licensing agreement, the Menomonee Falls, Wis., retailer will be the exclusive provider and marketer in the United States of all Very Vera by Vera Wang merchandise such as sportswear, intimate apparel, handbags, leather accessories, jewelry, footwear, linens and towels.
Terms were not disclosed.
Prices have not been set for the collection, but it will be aimed at the top tier in Kohl’s women’s apparel offerings, according to Kevin Mansell, president of Kohl’s. Currently, the highest priced women’s apparel collection at Kohl’s is Polo Ralph Lauren’s Chaps, which features $50 sweaters and $120 jackets.
“This is another great example of how Kohl’s continues to differentiate ourselves from the marketplace,” Mr. Mansell said in a conference call with reporters yesterday. He declined to offer sales projections for the collection.
Kohl’s and other department stores are increasingly turning to big designer names to develop exclusive merchandise, following in the footsteps of discounter Target Corp., which has done well with its partnerships with Isaac Mizrahi and Cynthia Rowley.
J.C. Penney Co. teamed up with dress designer Nicole Miller to develop an affordable collection, while Federated Department Stores Inc. announced a deal in April with home diva Martha Stewart to develop a home-furnishings collection that will be rolled out at Macy’s stores in the fall 2007.
For Vera Wang, the licensing pact with Kohl’s serves as a big opportunity to expand her customer base to middle-income shoppers. The New York designer has branched out beyond gowns to include home furnishings, jewelry, stationery and eyewear, but they carry designer price tags.
Mrs. Wang told reporters on the conference call that “it has troubled” her for quite a while not to be able to offer her designs to all women. “We have been quite elitist in terms of price points,” she said.
The designer added that she doesn’t think expanding her designs to a midprice retailer like Kohl’s will taint her reputation as a designer, citing names like Ralph Lauren and Giorgio Armani, both of whom have developed fashion empires that have appealed to a broad base of shoppers.
“In all honesty, I have weighed everything,” she said. But what’s important is that there’s good quality, trust and value at all levels of merchandise, she said.
In May, Mrs. Wang received the Andre Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
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