High Fashion International Ltd., which owns August Silk, is going upstream, launching two higher-end lines for spring.
Mikka, a better knit line that is part of the firm’s August Silk division, and Robin Howe, a sportswear line, are each priced with ranges that pick up where High Fashion’s existing better knit and sportswear lines leave off — completing the spectrum of the better price range.
“With these lines, we are going into the next chapter and being able to complete the whole volume,” said Ellen Dawson, corporate executive vice president and chief merchandising officer for August Silk. “We want to be one-stop shopping for the industry.”
Though both are better knit resources designed by the same team, August Silk wholesales from $14.50 to $24.50, and Mikka goes for $29 to $59. The Robin Howe Collection, which has its own design team led by Robin Howe, wholesales between $24 and $98.
Howe was previously the design director for Calvin Klein better sportswear at GAV and before that, the head designer for Jones New York for 12 years.
Both Mikka and Robin Howe use higher quality fabrics and feature more design detailing than their existing counterparts. While August Silk is sold primarily in department stores, the new lines target a specialty store clientele. “We are not looking to promote our up-tier in mainstream department stores — that is what August Silk is for,” Dawson said. “This is really catering to the upper-tier specialty stores.”
Robin Howe, which already has orders from Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom, will do $2 million to $3 million this year, said Don Horning, chief executive officer and president of High Fashion. While August Silk does about $80 million in wholesale annually, High Fashion “would not allow Mikka to go above the $2 million range in the first year,” Horning said.
“We see it as a laboratory test of the upper tier of the marketplace,” he said. “Mikka is really for select multiple-unit organizations and regional specialty stores that we can’t cover with the August Silk label.”
Hong Kong-based High Fashion has created product of this quality before through private label deals, but these lines will be the $285 million manufacturer’s first branded lines in that category, though both will also be offered as private label resources and will be used to illustrate the firm’s ability for private label and branded private label capabilities.
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“The design staff is able to have a field day here, because they don’t have to be as cognizant of price points as they do with August Silk,” Dawson said. “Everyone thinks they know what we are capable of, but I think they will be pleasantly surprised when they see what High Fashion can do.”