NEW YORK — Julie Chaiken is making her collection easier to navigate.
Since the Nineties, Chaiken, the San Francisco contemporary brand, has been singled out for its pants. Now, Chaiken will devote a group to past bestsellers, including its most-wanted pants.
“I’ve always been known for a great-fitting pant,” Chaiken said. “I finally listened to everyone and isolated it and gave it its own identity.”
Chaiken Profile, which will be identified on labels and hangtags, has already begun shipping to specialty boutiques and department stores. Chaiken Profile is in over 130 stores across the country, but Chaiken said, given the reaction to Profile, she expects the number of stores to double.
The idea is simple: At the end of each season, Chaiken will take its bestsellers and house them in Chaiken Profile so customers will know where to turn for their must-haves. The average wholesale price is $88 for pants and $135 for blazers — slightly lower than the items in Chaiken’s core collections.
“I wanted it to be a bit lower-priced because I wanted to complement the collection, not compete with it,” she said. “We have a pant that just blew out for fall. Instead of running it again in the collection, we’ll move it to Profile. We’ll include pants that I’ve had on the line since the mid-Nineties, but we’ll continue to add new silhouettes.”
Every new style will have a woman’s name; the Maggie is a low-rise, casual pant with a back flap pocket and the Kelly is a cropped, cuffed trouser.
Chaiken expects the collection’s wholesale volume in its first year to be $3 million. “I’m trying to be conservative,” Chaiken said. “There are a bunch of different stores that bought this — both new and old. Some stores that carried our pants back in the Nineties are saying this is great. It is also in stores that are denim-driven because that consumer is ready to wear something besides jeans. We’re learning a lot as we go,” she said.