NEW YORK — London Fog executives took a bold step when they decided the outerwear brand needed a makeover.
Rather than slowly introducing a new look into the collection and aiming for a smooth transition, they pulled London Fog merchandise off the market for one year and ended all existing licensing deals or let them expire.
“We thought we just wanted to let the market clear itself, so there’s no confusion what the brand was and what it is becoming,” said David Didio, president of London Fog. “It also gave us a year to work on new developments.”
The London Fog makeover revolves around the launch of sportswear this fall, and there are plans for a push into accessories and retail. London Fog has the potential to be a $1 billion brand, Didio said.
The London Fog Group had sales of $296 million, including a home furnishings category and performance outerwear under different labels.
The brand quietly reintroduced a sportswear collection for spring, which Didio said was not intended for wholesale. It is aiming to fully relaunch the collection this fall and will have a preview for retailers next month.
“We wanted to create a new fit for London Fog, and the first thing we did was to deconstruct the trench and start again,” design director James Thomas said.
For the relaunch, Didio and Thomas visited the late founder Izzy Myers’ son, Jonathan, who owns an archive of looks from the brand’s Seventies’ heyday. They culled the archives to create the sportswear, which is peppered with trenchcoat details. The collection, for instance, includes a double silk satin dress with the back flap echoing those of a trenchcoat, a slinky viscose jersey black dress with coat seaming and a bonded cotton short red trench jacket.
“It was important from the beginning that we created merchandise that was clean and modern,” Thomas said. “How do you bring in trenchcoat details without being heavy handed? The clothes should be familiar.”
As for the future, Didio said: “We hope to develop accessories in-house, and then, if and when it gets to be critical mass, we will explore licenses again. In 2008, we targeted freestanding retail and we identified five markets that we would like to roll out stores in.” Didio wouldn’t elaborate on those markets.
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For fall, wholesale prices range from $150 to $2,400, and the line targets upscale specialty stores nationwide. The spring capsule collection, meanwhile, will be available on the company’s Web site, londonfog.com, which is scheduled to be ready for e-commerce in March.
London Fog, which is owned by Greenco and DDJ Capital, features a new blue label with a logo using the same font as the London Underground.
Didio anticipates the repositioning will take as long as three years and London Fog will turn a profit in three to five years.
“We will be starting with the American and European retailers, and from then on roll the brand out to Japan, China, and other parts of Asia,” Didio said.