NEW YORK — Vince Camuto is well versed in building power brands such as Tory Burch, Jessica Simpson and Nine West. Now he’s out to turn his own name into the next big thing.
Five years after successfully introducing Vince Camuto footwear, the Camuto Group has signed a licensing agreement with Bernard Chaus Inc. to launch a women’s sportswear collection for fall under the Vince Camuto label.
“This is an opportunity for us to fully clothe the woman from head to toe,” said Vince Camuto, creative director and chief executive officer of Camuto Group, a leading footwear manufacturer. For Chaus, the Vince Camuto brand will replace the Kenneth Cole business, whose license was terminated five months early. Kenneth Cole had accounted for more than half of the $101.2 million in volume generated by Chaus in the year ended July 3.
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The Greenwich, Conn.-based Camuto Group is known for its ability to build women’s lifestyle brands on a global scale. The master licensee for the Jessica Simpson Collection, Camuto develops and manages several exclusive brands for Dillard’s and holds the footwear licenses for BCBGeneration, BCBG Max Azria, Lucky Brand, KensieGirl and Banana Republic. The company, which sells its products in more than 5,400 doors, also designs and sources footwear for Tory Burch and has a partnership with Sanctuary. Vince Camuto was also the co-founder, with Jerome Fisher, of Nine West, which they sold to Jones Apparel Group in 1999.
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In an interview with Camuto; Bob Galvin, president of the Camuto Group; Josephine Chaus, chief executive officer of Bernard Chaus Inc., and her son, Ariel Chaus, vice president of business development, the executives shared their desire to create a total lifestyle brand under the Vince Camuto moniker.
“We are a shoe guy,” acknowledged Camuto, “but we have been involved in ready-to-wear also. As you know, we took the Jessica Simpson [business] in 2005 and we said we wanted to build a $1 billion brand, and we’re three-quarters of the way this year.” Simpson’s ready-to-wear will be launched next fall with Jones Apparel Group, which already has the license for Jessica Simpson jeanswear. Camuto manufactures the Simpson footwear.
In addition to Chaus, Camuto has signed a host of licenses to expand the Vince Camuto brand. Among the products are belts and cold-weather accessories (Cipriani/Max Leather); eyewear (Colors in Optics); fragrance (Parlux); jewelry (Trebbianno); handbags (Betesh), and outerwear (Fleet Street). Handbags were introduced for spring 2010; outerwear and belts made their debut in fall 2010; eyewear and jewelry will launch in spring 2011, and fragrance hits stores in summer 2011, followed by cold-weather accessories in fall 2011. With the exception of Chaus, all these companies are also licensees for Jessica Simpson.
Other categories under consideration for the brand are jeanswear, swimwear, watches and home, said Galvin.
The footwear, known for its on-trend styling at moderate price points, is sourced through Camuto. Manufactured in China, boots are roughly $150 to $250 and shoes range from $89 to $140. While Galvin declined to reveal how big the Vince Camuto footwear line has become, he noted the brand’s sales increased 550 percent this year. Camuto plans to open 10 freestanding stores in the New York area for its footwear and accessories lines in 2011 and 60 stores internationally, said Galvin. In a deal with G-III Apparel Group Ltd., 150 Vince Camuto outlet stores [which carry all the Camuto footwear brands] will open over the next three years, with 15 slated to open in 2011.
Taking into account the footwear and licensees, industry sources estimate the Vince Camuto brand overall will drum up more than $250 million at retail in the next year.
Frank Doroff, vice chairman and general merchandise manager of Bloomingdale’s, is optimistic about the Vince Camuto sportswear line. He noted Bloomingdale’s is doing well with Cynthia Steffe, which is owned by Chaus, and Kenneth Cole was selling strongly. Although he hasn’t seen the Camuto line yet, he’s excited about the potential for the better department. “I think it can do well,” said Doroff.
Camuto’s licensees have experienced good results so far.
“The product was incredibly received,” said Evan Mittman, ceo of Cipriani Accessories, describing the Vince Camuto belt launch this fall. “We expect this to be a great business concentrating on the upper-tier stores such as Nordstrom, Saks and Bloomingdale’s.” He said the Camuto belts are feminine and have an understated elegance. “What we do is utilize a lot of the same techniques as the shoes. We mirror some of their signature hardware pieces and use similar materials,” said Mittman, who has known Camuto for more than 25 years through their business relationship with Nine West.
Manny Haber, ceo of Fleet Street, had a soft launch with Vince Camuto outerwear this fall and will have a full-fledged collection for fall 2011. “We’re just getting into the stores, and the reaction is extremely favorable. The name is impactful, and we’re very excited about Vince as a partner.” Fleet Street’s line runs the gamut from cloth and wool coats to down jackets, leather and rainwear, wholesaling from $75 to $200.
“We’re a good student of watching trends,” said Camuto, pointing to several knee-high boots and open-toe leather lace-up booties displayed in the showroom and on the models. Asked why he’s selected this moment to make the plunge into ready-to-wear, he replied, “Because we can’t find beautiful design at reasonable prices, with a concept that’s reasonable.”
The sportswear, which goes from day to evening, is a collaboration between Chaus and Camuto and is geared to women between 25 and 45 years old. The collection will wholesale from $25 to $200, and includes long riding skirts, stylish oversize sweaters, ponchos, fine-gauge knits, military jackets, side-ruched dresses and shearling jackets.
Camuto described the sportswear collection, which will launch in March, as more feminine than what’s out there for the better customer, without being overly sexy. “Nothing is froufrou or overdone. It’s more classic with an edge.” Much of the line will carry the Camuto crest insignia on the inside label or discreetly on the buttons. The strategy is to open in-store shops in the flagships.
Josephine Chaus said the collection will be housed in “the modern zone” of sportswear departments, near Michael Michael Kors. Ariel Chaus added that they’re targeting stores such as Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor and Belk.
Discussing how the two companies came together, Camuto said, “We’ve known Josephine for a number of years and had talked about doing a deal with Jessica Simpson. We’re in the marketplace all the time,” he said, and he has spoken to many different companies about assorted deals. “What Josephine brought was a great sensibility of design and phenomenal sourcing,” said Galvin. Chaus explained that the company has a joint venture with a factory in China, which greatly impressed Camuto. “Both Bob and I met with them in China, spent a week there and toured all their factories. Today, it’s not just the idea, but it’s also the execution,” said Camuto.
Further, Galvin added: “The Chaus organization also has tremendous department store relationships, so when we talked to management about launching an important brand, the Chaus name came up constantly.”
Chaus has struggled the past several years, and last year suffered a net loss of $6 million versus $9.6 million the prior year, but appears poised for an upturn. Its stock is currently trading over-the-counter at 9 cents. In light of the Camuto negotiations, the company filed notice with the SEC that it would miss the Nov. 16 deadline to file quarterly figures for the period ended Oct. 2, 2010, because it was involved in contractual discussions that would “materially affect” the information presented in its quarterly report. Separately, Kenneth Cole Productions Inc. is negotiating to sell its 16 percent equity stake in Bernard Chaus Inc. back to Chaus by yearend, as reported. Camuto doesn’t plan to make an equity investment in Chaus at this time.
Camuto said he preferred to go with a company like Chaus, which would be able to totally focus on it, rather than go to a conglomerate where it was just another brand. “We were looking at people who can execute. This was the right place at the right time, and they want to concentrate on this brand,” said Camuto.
The Vince Camuto collection will be based at 550 Seventh Avenue, and Terri Speiser will handle sales. It will be marketed through an aggressive print campaign, trunk shows, personal appearances, billboards and an online program. The company plans to add e-commerce in July. Judith Leech, who’s been with Chaus for 15 years, and most recently designed the Kenneth Cole line, is creative director of Vince Camuto and oversees the design team.
“Stores are so receptive to have Vince Camuto apparel,” summed up Josephine Chaus. “They’re eager to have the fashion he’s known for in his shoes and boots.”