Last year, J. Press quietly launched a new brand — Pennant Label — targeted to a young customer. And now, the company is ready to shout about it.
The retailer has opened its first stand-alone Pennant Label shop at 501 Madison Avenue to showcase the collection that features a more modern fit and a softer feel than the traditional J. Press collection.
The 1,144-square-foot shop is the second J. Press store in New York City, joining the flagship in the Yale Club on 44th Street. It offers the full collection of Pennant sportswear, including officially licensed Ivy League school merchandise, as well as accessories and a younger take on tailored clothing. There are washed oxford shirts or five-pocket pants that retail for $135, crewneck or varsity sweaters for $165 from colleges such as Harvard or Yale, varsity jackets for $495, corduroy shorts for $89.50 and windbreakers for $165.
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Robert Squillaro, senior vice president and chief merchandising officer of J. Press, said the Pennant Label soft launched in the summer of 2022 as a capsule, but has since been expanded into a full collection. It is designed in-house by the company’s team and targets a customer primarily aged 18 to 35, “but really anyone who likes Ivy style with a trim fit and a bit of whimsical design.”
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“We wanted to allow for the full collection to be displayed and considered by our customers,” he added about the decision to open a stand-alone store. “J. Press has seen tremendous interest from a younger customer on Instagram and in our stores who loves the traditional Ivy aesthetic. We wanted to offer them a full expression of the Pennant Label.”
The collection is also carried in shops inside the J. Press stores in New Haven, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. It is also sold in Japan, the home of J. Press’s owner, Onward Kashiyama, as well as in other countries in Asia.
“We are thrilled to expand the Pennant Label into its own space and to be able to present an unabridged expression of the line,” said Jun Murakami, chief executive officer of J. Press USA. “There’s been so much interest in a casual and fun collection like Pennant from our customers. We wanted to offer them something that expresses their style in a modern way.”
At this point, there are no plans to open additional freestanding Pennant stores, the company said.