Ellesse is returning to its ski-bunny beginnings.
After more than a decade off the slopes, the Italian activewear company is launching a full performance ski collection for fall 2007.
“When Ellesse first started in 1959, ski was its very first product, though everyone thinks of us for tennis now,” said Stuart Hudson, national sales manager. “We are going back to our fashion roots — our niche of quirky, colorful, retro ski.”
The women’s and men’s performance ski apparel comes in a bright Eighties-inspired palette, and is designed by Rainer Engel, who worked for Ellesse in the Eighties.
At its peak, Ellesse was doing hundreds of millions of dollars in wholesale volume in the U.S. alone on its performance ski apparel, Hudson said. The company exited the market more than a decade ago.
“Fifteen years ago, we did huge business in the U.S., then everything became about performance and you couldn’t compete with the big brands,” Hudson said. “But it became so much of the same that it became ubiquitous. Women want fashion again, and there’s a fashion resurgence going on in athletics.”
For the last two seasons, the $350 million company has dabbled in a limited number of performance pieces sold exclusively in Europe, but has not offered a full collection or anything in the U.S.
Ellesse also sold heritage ski fashion pieces that retailed for about $150 at sportswear retailers, but stopped the retro line in fall 2005. “Retro generally died off, so we decided to bring back the real,” Hudson said.
Jackets wholesale for $320 to $450, and pants go for $200 to $275. Making geographically exclusive deals with retailers, Ellesse thinks it can do $1 million to $2 million in wholesale in the U.S. in its first year, according to Hudson. The company’s next step is a contemporary line for spring 2008.