NEW YORK — Andrew Marc wants to expand its women’s and men’s outerwear business into a lifestyle brand, and the first step is to tap into the lucrative handbag market.
The 25-year-old firm, which is said to have annual revenues of $70 million to $100 million, has launched an accessories line that will begin retailing for fall.
“We are doing well with the core business and feel it’s at a point where we can take the next step,” said Suzanne Schwartz, senior vice president of Andrew Marc and the wife of founder Andrew Marc Schwartz. “The handbag area is huge right now and there is a lot of interest in the category from the customers we already sell to. It’s also a category that seems like a natural fit for the brand. Leather is our heritage.”
Overall sales in the accessories category jumped to $30.29 billion in 2005 from $28.85 billion the previous year, said Britton Jones, chief executive officer of Norwalk, Conn.-based Business Journals Inc., producer of AccessoriesTheShow.
Handbags account for the bulk of that business at many leather goods brands, such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci.
The Andrew Marc collection, which is targeted to women, with a few men’s briefcase and traveler styles, is designed in-house under the direction of Simeon Turnbull, who joined Andrew Marc in July after working as creative director at Ghurka and head designer for accessories at Mulberry.
“We didn’t want to license out the category,” Schwartz said. “We want to keep tight control right now on the image of the company.”
The debut collection comprises 20 styles, all of which take their inspiration from the firm’s leather, shearling, wool and down coats. The slouchy hobos, doctor’s bags, barrel silhouettes and satchels are created in soft, lightweight, vegetable-tanned leathers, as well as calfskin, goat, shearling and raccoon fur. Detailing lies in the seaming and stitching.
“We use seaming and stitching in our women’s jackets to highlight the shape of the body and it’s the same in the bag,” Schwartz said. “We want it to look nice from all angles when a customer is carrying it.”
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Other signature features include easy-to-access external pockets, which are highlighted with zippers and either braided zipper pulls or zipper pulls that are embellished with a removable raccoon tail.
“We wanted a detailed bag, but we didn’t want it to look too busy,” Schwartz said. “The bag market is a little fast and furious and that’s a challenge for us to create iconic pieces, but pieces that will still have appeal a few years from now because we want our customers to get longevity from a bag.”
The collection will retail from $495 to $595, with some luxe looks designed in fur retailing for as much as $950. There will also be small leather goods and key chains ranging from $125 to $150. The entire collection will be targeted toward the same retailers that already carry the outerwear, including Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s and select specialty stores.
“We wanted to create high-end handbags with quality and attitude and fair price points,” Schwartz said. “We feel there is a niche at this price point that we can tap into.”
Andrew Marc Schwartz, the company’s ceo, said the collection is for the customer who wants affordable luxury with a twist.
“The trick here is that there are no tricks,” he said.
After handbags, the firm is looking into launching other accessories categories, including footwear and belts. The expansion is partly the result of Andrew Marc’s partnership, starting in November 2004, with Boston-based venture capital firm Gordon Brothers/GB Palladin. Schwartz had owned the firm independently since 1991.
“The investors are a good fit because we found somebody who is interested in the brand and expanding it into a lifestyle concept,” Schwartz said. “It is a collaboration with how we run our own business and their vision for the future of the company.”
In the past year, Andrew Marc has increased its staff to keep all facets of its growing business under one roof. It has also renovated its headquarters at 570 Seventh Avenue here, expanding its second floor and taking up part of a new third floor. Overall square footage has gone up 40 percent to 16,000 square feet.
Schwartz would not comment on his anticipated sales for the new handbag line, but said he sees it as a stepping stone toward future growth.
“We want to work toward being a fully diversified company,” Schwartz said. “We built this business working on product that we thought looked good on us. We served as our own inspiration. We also kept in mind that with quality, which is something we stand for, it never goes out of style.”
Schwartz said the firm plans to incorporate the handbags with overall advertising for the brand, which typically runs in Vogue, Vanity Fair, In Style and GQ, as well as on billboards in major metropolitan cities.