At the beginning of 2018, iconic American fashion designer Elie Tahari signed a deal with Bluestar Alliance to conquer the world with modern, sophisticated style and understated elegance.
For nearly five decades, the Elie Tahari brand has been synonymous with luxurious collections, designed to inspire confidence and empower women. Impressively, Tahari built his fashion empire in New York from nothing and was at one point revealed to be worth $1 billion. He did it with a constant finger on the pulse of the world and a promise to deliver extraordinary and timeless style.
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As seen in his 2021 documentary, “The United States of Elie Tahari,” the designer has always cared deeply about his customers and has a unique understanding of her needs. Tahari became an important brand name in the ‘80s and ‘90s catering to the working woman who needed apparel to at the office and during special occasions.
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Having always been true to that promise has allowed the Elie Tahari brand to remain one of the most coveted in the contemporary consumer’s wardrobe in every stage of her life.
In conversation about Bluestar’s role in the Elie Tahari brand, Joseph Gabbay, chief executive officer of Bluestar Alliance, he said that he has a deep respect for the brand that Elie Tahari has built. For its part, Bluestar Alliance supports brands by implementing a team of best-in-class partners that are optimally suited to further the development and enhancement of a brand’s unique value proposition. This includes identifying licensees, partners and franchisees that work in lockstep to support the brand strategy and drive growth.
“Since our founding in 1974, our top priority has been providing our customers with the highest quality luxury products and we are honored to have found a partnership with Bluestar that is aligned in accomplishing that goal,” said Elie Tahari. “Together, as we celebrate our 50th anniversary, we are committed to seamlessly blending creativity and innovation, while shaping the future of fashion.”
Gabbay told Fairchild Studios that he always likes to begin a new partnership by gaining a deep understanding of a brand’s DNA, which he then applies to comprehensive strategic brand management. With the Elie Tahari brand, he saw right away that a special relationship between brand and consumer has been nurtured over decades.
On the surface, Gabbay said, “the Elie Tahari customer is a modern woman who is sophisticated, confident and looks for modern tailoring.” But moreover, he noted that Elie Tahari, the founder, has famously (and perhaps uniquely) always recognized and maintained that the clothing should be
quieter than the woman herself. “The brand philosophy is a commitment to beautiful and functional clothing that is designed with dimension – to inspire confidence for any occasion.”
Gabbay applauded Elie Tahari for remaining committed to elegant design, premium materials and a flattering fit, with Elie Tahari collections offering its customer luxurious collections that are truly timeless. It is this that has fostered success. Elie Tahari has grown and expanded its business through e-commerce, retail and wholesale partnerships by consistently offering polished, trend-sensitive, flattering options. The unwavering consistency has fueled growth, new opportunities and expanded customer audiences.
To further the brand’s growth, Bluestar Alliance has used its strategic lens to identify core categories within the foundation of the brand to expand upon, including fashion suiting, soft dresses and knitwear. Examples where the brand has seen expansion include the introduction of expanded custom and emotional prints, novel fabrications, new silhouettes, additional coverage considerations to speak to a wider customer base, feminine details and accent elements.
To further reach a younger customer, and offer styles for a wider breadth of occasions, each season Elie Tahari offers trend-sensitive styles, expanded offering in core categories, introduces novel fabrications, new bold colors and detail accents.
Gabbay told Fairchild Studio that suiting, in particular, has remained extremely strong for the brand. “While suiting and tailored fashion have seen an evolution with trend, Elie Tahari has remained a constant due to premium design and distinctive craftsmanship, ensuring pieces Elie Tahari pieces have a place in her wardrobe for generations.”
Additional opportunities in suiting and knitwear for the brand are being driven by mix and match styles, knits, wool cashmere, rich colors, compression and finger gauge knit techniques.
Importantly, through its partnership, Bluestar Alliance has also served to support Elie Tahari’s notable reinvigoration of its partnerships with retailers. Elie Tahari was relaunched Saks Fifth Avenue, and subsequent retail partnerships followed.
As part of its brand management strategy Bluestar Alliance supports Elie Tahari’s retail partnerships – as it does for all of its brands – by meeting with retailer partners and organizing focus groups to generate feedback and applying insights into subsequent collection development and build a long-term strategic roadmap.
With the brand’s 50th anniversary coming up, the Elie Tahari brand and Bluestar Alliance will remain focused on diversified marketing across e-commerce, wholesale and social media for the brand. Already, the brand has seen strong growth in its reach and engagement of a younger audience, driven by enhanced social media marketing.
“There is a lot of excitement around what the brand has always stood for and what it represents today,” said Gabbay. “After Elie Tahari’s growth across all channels, including e-commerce, store and retail partners, the brand is proudly celebrating 50 years.”