NEW YORK — Shoppers will have lots of outerwear and rainwear options this fall — thanks to Company Ellen Tracy, George Simonton, Lilly Pulitzer and Cockpit USA.
Company Ellen Tracy is offering an array of outerwear — wool coats, leather and shearlings, active-inspired styles and even a little rainwear. Heavy on color, the line is aimed at two types of customers — the misses’ luxe customer and Baby Boomers who are looking for modern, updated coats, said David Winn, president of G-III’s Winlit division, which holds the outerwear license for Ellen Tracy.
With wholesale prices of $100 to $250, the 60-piece collection is packed with options such as a slim-fitting maxicoat, an asymmetric walking coat, fur-trimmed styles and down options. Winn expects Company Ellen Tracy to generate $30 million at wholesale within the next three years. Pleased with the success of its Ellen Tracy outerwear, which the company continues to produce, Winlit decided to introduce Company Ellen Tracy outerwear with the hope of reaching a broader customer base. Interestingly, Company Ellen Tracy sportswear is not currently being produced.
Despite that, Winn said the response to the new coat collection is the strongest one he has seen in his 37 years of working in the apparel business. To help keep the interest going, there are plans to do co-op advertising with stores. He and Donna Bonetti, director of sales at Winlit for Ellen Tracy outerwear, La Nouvelle Renaissance and LNR, agreed that retailers are looking for labels that provide popular price points.
For the first time in 15 years, George Simonton is offering a fall outerwear collection called George Simonton Luxe, consisting primarily of 12 novelty styles of cashmere and wool coats. Embroidered styles and fur-trimmed outerwear make up the bulk of the offerings, wholesaling for $325 to $460. “It’s for the woman who has a wardrobe of coats,” Simonton said.
First-year projected wholesale volume is $2 million. The designer plans to host 12 trunk shows this fall to plug the outerwear. Fifty-three stores are expected to carry it. Nordstrom plans to spotlight the designer’s reversible cape in its fall catalogue, he said. Angie Powell, who replaced Judi Barken as sales manager last year, is handling the retail push.
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Simonton will continue to produce a collection of jackets. He said he was encouraged to venture into coats partly because that is the specialty of his parent, L’Art de la Mode.
“The market really needs something different,” Simonton said.
Last year, Lilly Pulitzer “tested the waters” for outerwear by selling a vest and a coat, and was so encouraged by the sales that a nine-piece collection has been introduced for fall. A hot pink wool coat, a green suede jacket and a neon pink down vest will be among the styles sold at the company’s 75 freestanding stores and through department stores and specialty stores that carry the brand.
The new outerwear is featured in the Lilly Pulitzer fall catalogue, which is distributed to several hundred thousand people each season, the spokeswoman said. To play up the label’s prepster feel, the catalogue was shot amidst the Gothic buildings on the campus of Rhodes College in Memphis, a site listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The sportswear company is putting together limited advertising for this fall’s outerwear launch.
The coat category isn’t the only area the brand is delving into. For the first time, a holiday collection of dresses and eveningwear will be offered. Consisting of 12 styles and wholesaling between $74 and $182, the group has an assortment of short and long formal attire. A black cocktail dress with a hot pink bow, a pink and celadon floral floor-length skirt paired with a strapless celadon top and a hot pink skirt with a cropped black jacket with a Peter Pan collar and rhinestone buttons are some of the offerings.
Cockpit USA rolls out its outerwear this fall with the hopes of dressing stylishly minded contemporary shoppers. The initial collection has six styles, among them a leather flight jacket with a fur collar and a hooded loden zip-front jacket. The label is being sold to retailers, and will also be sold at the company’s freestanding store at 652 Broadway here and online at its new Web site, cockpit.com. The site is expected to go live in mid-May and the women’s outerwear will be available in July or August, said Jacky Clyman, who owns the company with her husband, Jeffrey.
Wholesale prices range from $175 to $400 and the collection is being shown at Cockpit’s showroom at 15 West 39th Street. In the next two years, the women’s business should generate $5 million to $6 million in wholesale volume, Jacky Clyman said.
The pair have specialized in outerwear for years, opening the Cockpit store downtown and a mail-order business in the Seventies. They also founded Avirex and earlier this year sold the trademark to Marc Ecko Enterprises, which until that time had been licensing the name.
They have produced flight jackets and other items for the U.S. government off and on for 25 years, Jacky Clyman said. Cockpit USA is the official supplier of the leather A-2 jacket for the U.S. Air Force and provides outerwear for the U.S. Navy’s exchange stores. Last year, the Clymans came up with the idea to manufacture “a premium contemporary” collection called Cockpit for civilian women and men.