Bebe is a brand with a sexy reputation.
Founded by Manny Mashouf who opened Bebe’s first boutique in San Francisco in 1976, Bebe filled a white space in the market for a demographic that was neither junior nor bridge – establishing itself as one of the first major contemporary fashion brands.
In its nearly 50-year legacy as a contemporary fashion brand, Bebe has been unwavering in its promise to its customers to always stay on-trend, celebrate body confidence with flattering fit and empower women in their everyday lives. The Bebe customer seeks out flirty dresses, body-con styles, sophisticated separates and loves to wear the distinctive Bebe logo.
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By staying consistent to its design practices, the brand has earned a loyal following of consumers that impressively not only spans generations but has bolstered the company’s ongoing success.
Though, notably, in addition to strength in consistency, Bebe’s ongoing transformative growth can be credited to its partnership with Bluestar Alliance, the brand’s parent company. As a brand management company, Bluestar Alliance focuses on developing brands by reviewing foundations and brand DNA to then provide structure and resources to advance growth across design, production, e-commerce, international presence, retail and wholesale partnerships, and more.
Joseph Gabbay, chief executive officer of Bluestar Alliance, said that “each brand has a specific strategy and roadmap for growth, and Bluestar Alliance offers strong management and shares a system of processes and resources to fuel growth.” For Bebe, Gabbay recognizes that it is the brand’s design, and commitment to brand DNA that will allow for successful expansion into a range of fashion categories.
In its design, Bebe is a forward-thinking fashion brand that focuses on designs to empower women to feel the best version of themselves. Bold, sophisticated and unapologetically sexy, Bebe shares with its customers a lifestyle that is all about embracing your authentic self and inspiring you to do so confidently – for decades it has been the go-to destination for customers who seek on-trend, contemporary styles.
Bebe’s designs are created with a confident, sexy and modern woman in mind. The styles offer quality and adaptability for women with emotional pieces to inspire confidence when she dresses. According to the company, when the Bebe customer shops, she seeks out flirty dresses, body-con styles, sophisticated separates that are timeless. The customer loves fashion, she is sartorially vocal, she is not afraid of risk, and she likes to stand out. She is driven by fit, specialty fabrications, color, detail and hardware.
With its well-executed and clear brand DNA, Bebe customers have come to know what the brand stands for and what they can expect. The Bebe follower is loyal and vocal about what she likes, with the company’s data showing that customer engages more than average on social media. From his perspective, Gabbay says these expectations should be applaueded, citing the knowledge for what has grounded the brand in its extremely specific style and quality commitment that has given Bebe its ongoing success.
“Bebe boasts a well-known commitment to engineering its fabrications and fit to offer stretch, comfort and a flattering fit for all body types,” said Gabbay. Specifically, such considerations include four-way stretch, mechanical stretch, smocking and adjustable design techniques. The product moves with her and carries her from day to night. Bebe’s foundation boasts the commitment to designing products engineered for a range of body types, and this approach is refined and season after season.”
The brand’s design team offers a core collection of top styles reflecting the brand’s bold design which is crafted with expert quality and adaptability. Notably, Gabbay told Fairchild Studio that perhaps unsurprisingly to those who know the brand well, Bebe has found a unique mother-daughter engagement that he credits to the designs. For every piece, both the design and production teams review core constructions, construction updates, stretch techniques and fabrication advancements that have been carefully maintained and enhanced for multigenerational appeal.
Recent collections have also offered designs with a greater assortment through mixed media, vegan leathers, 3D textures, specialty lace and exclusive prints designed in-house. Notably, Gabbay told Fairchild Studio that the Bebe logo seen on many of the brand’s designs is strongly embraced and always has been – something extremely rare for a contemporary brand.
As the brand continues to grow its core business, Gabbay said Bebe’s strength is in its reorder business. It is from the brand’s existing success that Bebe has created a platform to allow expansion within categories and offer updated styles that give customers exactly what they want with a fresh point of view season after season.
More specifically, the strong base has provided clear guidelines to expand within bandage styles, day styles, tailored sets and suiting, knitwear, vegan leather, denim and much more. “Together, all efforts have strengthened the brand recognition, product consistency and interest and driven customer engagement with Bebe,” said Gabbay.
An example of design expansion was seen in early 2024, as Bebe announced a design partnership with the singer/songwriter, entrepreneur and philanthropist Ciara. With the upcoming capsule collection, Ciara and Bebe plan to combine her tomboy-chic style and Bebe’s sexy and glamorous aesthetic across all the company’s key categories including dresses, denim, sportswear and accessories. In a statement, Ciara said that “growing up, the Bebe brand was iconic.”
Since Bluestar Alliance has taken over Bebe’s management, the brand has seen significant growth at retailers including Macy’s and Nordstrom. Further, the brand sees its global presence continuing to grow with more than 100 stores in China and additional growth in the Middle East and Mexico.
Looking ahead, Gabbay told Fairchild Studio that with Bebe’s ongoing consistent, robust growth “the brand has the opportunity to develop and expand core, new categories as well as new points of brand presence and distribution. We are providing strategic direction and investing resources to drive design, development, marketing and exclusive programs for our partners.”
Key areas for expansion include expanding dresses, denim, footwear, knits, tailoring, fashion categories like bustiers, bodysuits and leggings, sun and optical glasses, and sleepwear. A new fragrance is expected to launch in fall 2024.