The accessories business is strong, and premium denim makers want in.
They believe there is room for more in the marketplace as industry titans like Coach deepen their hold by opening Coach Legacy stores and Jennifer Lopez prepares to launch accessories for her justsweet line.
Joe’s Jeans and Seven For All Mankind introduced their first accessories for fall at the Fashion Coterie show this week.
Joe’s Jeans, a subsidiary of the Innovo Group, inked a deal with the Betesh Group to produce women’s handbags, small leather goods and women’s and men’s belts. The bags are mostly all leather with trapunto and quilted detailing in colors such as cordovan, coffee and gunmetal. The Joe’s Jeans logo is subtly embossed onto some styles, such as on the front panel of a caramel hobo bag. The initial collection consists of 14 bags, but Elliot Betesh, president of the Betesh Group, based in New York, plans to add as many as 26 styles for fall.
The plan is to sell the bags in stores already carrying the label’s apparel and denim, including Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s, in addition to smaller specialty doors. Wholesale prices range from $127 to $290. The fall accessories will bow in stores in the summer.
Industry sources said Joe’s accessories may bring in $25 million in retail sales in the first year.
The Betesh Group is growing its luxury division, which was launched in 2005. Last year, the firm tapped accessories designer Carlos Falchi as creative director of the division, and started bag firm Sloane & Alex. Falchi isn’t associated with the Joe’s line. Betesh said the firm was seeking to acquire luxury accessories brands. Joe’s is the first license for the division.
Joe’s has “greatly expanded into apparel,” Betesh said. “They’re growing their brands in many ways. The idea behind this is for the consumer who wears Joe’s apparel and jeans. We’re quite aware of their taste level in accessories. It’s our intention to give them a bag of high quality that can speak the language of Joe’s with a beautiful leather product.”
Seven, on the other hand, is producing its own leather handbags. Ranging in style from patent leather carryalls to vintage-inspired hobos in colors such as plum, gray and brown, the bags embody Seven’s feminine yet urban aesthetic. Wholesale prices range from $145 to $350.
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Other denim companies that are pushing accessories include Habitual, which has a small selection of bags and belts, and Rock & Republic, which has gone all out with footwear, bags and eyewear.