NEW YORK — LaRok is on a roll.
In just over a year, the contemporary brand has increased distribution, raised overall sales volume and promoted two designers who have grasped the LaRok lifestyle.
While the collection hangs in more than 500 specialty stores worldwide, including Isetan and Intermix in Japan, Crystal Slattery, vice president of merchandise for the brand, said the best part has been the sell-throughs. “With our resort collection, we had 70 to 80 percent sell-throughs,” she noted.
LaRok is primed to branch into large specialty stores — expanding into Saks Fifth Avenue beginning with the spring collection — but the emphasis is on growing internationally, Slattery said. That means targeting stores like Selfridges in London and smaller boutiques in Japan. As a result, the wholesale volume is expected to be $25 million to $35 million by the end of 2006, an increase of about $15 million compared with last year.
“I think when we started we had more of an item-driven business, but people are now buying us as a collection,” Slattery said. “We ship every month, so people really look to us every single month.”
Because of the shipping schedule, the fall collection consists of three months’ worth of merchandise, which translates to about 120 pieces. The inspiration for pre-fall starts with a Kingston, Jamaica, schoolgirl vibe — think British tailoring set to reggae beats. This translates to rich, brightly colored prints on flowy silks, shrunken jackets and knee-length shorts. Rich browns and khakis are offset with brilliant red, green and yellow.
Moving further into fall, the schoolgirl takes a more academic turn. Classic plaids and stripes are shown in vests, cropped shorts and jackets, and a sexy, low-cut poplin schoolboy shirt has a striped mini tie.
The wholesale price range of the collection is between $44 for a T-shirt and $150 for a fur-lined parka.
Co-designers Jenna Wilson and Cary Vaughan filled the shoes vacated by Jenny La Fata, who in April became the vice president of design for Sean Combs’ women’s collection, Sean by Sean Combs.
“Jenna and Cary represent the spirit of the customer,” Slattery said. “I think we take very wearable clothes and ask, ‘How can we LaRok this idea?'”
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Wilson and Vaughan, friends for six years, have been with LaRok since the company’s inception. They live a few blocks from each other and one frequently finishes the other’s sentences. It’s clear that their design styles are highly complementary. Wilson, Vaughan said, brings a sexy, dressed-up aesthetic to the design room, whereas she is a bit more street-inspired.
“Cary brings everything down to that cool girl level,” Wilson noted.
This month, LaRok will launch LaRok.com. Though it’s not an e-commerce site, demand from consumers for a Web site kept growing. On the Web, Slattery explained, customers can see the collection, find out “what’s hot” at LaRok, and find stores that carry the brand.
Slattery said shoes and accessories might be in the future, along with plans to create a freestanding LaRok boutique. For now, it’s just a thought, but Slattery added, “It really would be fun to see the collection in one place.”