New Lines From Tyte, Lure Launch
Tyte’s Bottom Drive
Tyte is loosening up.
The Los Angeles–based junior denim manufacturer is rolling out a fashion-forward collection of knit skirts, capris, shorts and cargo pants for Holiday 2003.
Launched in 1997, Tyte has evolved from a trendy junior denim line to one that includes tween, children’s, plus-size and misses fashions. Tyte Chief Executive Officer Alden Halpern called the new collection a “comfortable alternative” to the company’s junior denim line.
“We are very excited about knits as a category of expansion,” said Halpern, who also serves as president of 4Whatitsworth Inc., parent company of Tyte. “The brand translates well into knit fabrication, and we are extremely pleased with the initial response from our buyers to the collection.”
The styles are more like fashion bottoms than sweat pants, Halpern said.
The initial collection consists of French terry stretch fabrications and has a sporty-yet-feminine feel. The 10-piece collection includes minis, knee-length skirts and pants with cargo pockets. Tyte’s knit bottoms have woven trimmings in silk, nylon, poplin and Taslin fabrics. Wholesale price points start at $22.
With delivery dates beginning Nov. 15, the line will be sold at the company’s existing retail accounts, including Macy’s, Dillard’s and Marshall Field’s.
Halpern said early sales projections for the line are between $3 million and $5 million for the first year. The company plans to roll out a line of misses knit bottoms during holiday and plus-size and children’s knit bottoms lines in the spring, he added.
Last year, Tyte moved more of its production overseas. Now 90 percent of the line is produced in countries such as India, China, Vietnam and Colombia. The company also has a corporate office in Hong Kong.
4Whatitsworth has a healthy private-label business, which is on track to earn $45 million by the year’s end. The company also manufactures the Beau Dawson brand, misses denim and stretch bottoms that sell at Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s at retail price points starting at $150. The company’s Etoile Bleu collection of contemporary denim, sportswear and knits, started in 1999, is on hiatus but will hit stores for Fall 2004. —Claudia Figueroa
Lure’s Casual Chic
Lure, which made its debut in Spring 2002, is a couture-inspired contemporary line of lifestyle casuals. Comfortable, high-quality fabrics combine with fine tailoring to create versatile, fashionable separates.
Founder and designer Jamie Lauren, a former stylist and graduate of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, developed Lure to provide premium clothes— that work from day to night and from night to day—at reasonable prices. Lauren said her line is in tune with the trends but at the same time possesses a classic, timeless element.
Lure has become popular with celebrities such as actress Jennie Garth, who enjoys the casual-yet-fashionable quality of the line, Lauren said. Garth, whom Lauren said loves Lure’s soft, cozy knits, will be wearing looks from the line on upcoming episodes of her series, “What I Like About You.”
The line consists of fashionable knit basics that coordinate with high-fashion separates. Lauren styles the knit basics with stitching and seaming details to give them a fashion edge. Tanks, T-shirts, minis, shorts, drawstring pants and various top silhouettes—including a popular three-quarter-sleeve Vneck top—come in different fabrics each season. Fabrics include cotton, cotton/ Lycra, Modal jersey, 2 x 1 rib and velour. Wholesale prices range from $16 to $31 for tops and $21 to $27 for bottoms. A popular long coat wholesales for $33.
The fashion collection, which Lauren calls “Lure Couture,” combines couture- inspired pieces with streetwear. “I like to mix high-fashion couture with streetwear, which is what is happening in fashion right now,” she explained.
A colorful, feminine group for Spring includes knit tops, tanks and tube tops; capris; and skirts and dresses decorated with grosgrain ribbons and Drings in color combinations including pink and fuchsia, celery and yellow, reef and orange, and black and white. Other groups include styles in white perforated leather with colorful, athletic knit waistbands and cuffs; paisley silk with knit waistbands, cuffs, and collars; and tailored stretch twill. Wholesale prices range from $25 to $45 for tops, $60 to $93 for pants and $60 to $150 for jackets.
Lisa Kline, Fred Segal Fun at Fred Segal in Santa Monica and Planet Blue in Malibu carry the line. Lure can be found at the West Bank Clothing showroom in suite 1101 of The New Mart. Call (213) 629-2822, or go to www.lureclothing.com for more information. —N.J.S.
