Rem garson gets lucky with leather license
Lucky Brand has entered the leather industry.
Known for it’s rugged denim line, Lucky Brand has signed a license with Rem Garson to produce a line of leather goods under the Lucky name. The line will launch for fall retailing.
The leather collection consists of pants and jackets that look like they are made of denim. All pants mirror the traditional Lucky Brand denim jeans, but they are made of leather. The color story for the collection consists of camel, black, brown and light green. Whatever pieces are not distressed in the line are made of suede, like the chocolate brown fringe suede jacket and coat and the grape suede coat.
Marc Garson, president of Rem Garson, which also produces the Fubu leather line and its own line of leather sportswear, said the idea was to create vintage-looking, denim-like leather to work with the company’s denim line. Garson said that overall, the leather business is not as good as it used to be for two reasons. The first is because of the economic slump and the second because leather hit its prime last fall, when sportswear companies began to add leather to its mix. However, with denim such a strong trend, Lucky Brand is on the right track with its line, he said.
“Now is not a good time to launch leather, but it is a great time for Lucky, since denim is so big,” Garson said. “It was difficult to find the right leather for them, but we ended up coming up with a line that is so appropriate for them.”
According to Arnie Winick, director of sales for Lucky Brand leather, the line will sell to existing Lucky clients like Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s, as well as the Lucky Brand freestanding stores. The leather collection wholesales from $95 to $300.
“We didn’t want to create a line that should be bought as complete outfits,” Winick said. “These are pieces to go with the Lucky lifestyle.