California Apparel News

Some people only get one shot at success— but not Gregg Fiene, who has a track record of capitalizing on and producing juniors fashion trends for the mass market.

In the year since his departure from XOXO, the Los Angeles–based juniors apparel company he helped found in 1991, Fiene has conceptualized a new juniors market niche that caters to a sophisticated teen through tailored suits and silk touches.

The 53-year-old executive is stepping back into the game with Yank, a better juniors apparel line geared toward 18- to 35-year-old women.

The venture is part of Fiene’s partnership with As Is Clothing, an $18 million private-label manufacturer in Los Angeles that counts retailers Urban Outfitters, Rampage, Charlotte Russe and Gadzooks as customers. As creative director, Fiene is in charge of overseeing merchandising and design production of Yank, as well as overseeing the relaunch of the company’s moderate juniors label, Sele.

Fiene said the opportunity has rejuvenated his passion for the juniors fashion market. “I realized that starting again and building a company from the ground up is really where my passion is,” he explained during a recent interview at his new 30,000-square-foot digs near downtown Los Angeles.

Thirty-year track record

Maintaining a low-key profile has always been Fiene’s business approach. Those who know him say his strength is his ability to get behind a label and push it forward with a keen eye for trends.

“Greg is an unbelievable team player,” said Marc Bohbot, co-founder of juniors label Bisou Bisou. “He knows how to surround himself with the right people and has all the right talents to make a successful fashion business.”

After 30 years in the apparel industry, Fiene’s track record is telling. Fiene got his start in retail during the 1970s as a buyer for Alandales, a high-end European clothing boutique then located in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Westwood Village. His enthusiasm for trends earned him merchandising positions for apparel companies including Sports Power of California and Switch, both in Los Angeles.

The increasing focus on the juniors customer during the early 1990s led Fiene to form a partnership with Bisou Bisou owners Michelle and Marc Bohbot to launch XOXO, a line of young, energetic casual and career-oriented apparel for juniors. The trio developed a formula and advanced it by identifying new market trends.

As the chief executive officer of XOXO, Fiene helped grow the company, eventually seeing it earn sales revenues of more than $100 million at its peak in 1999.

“He’s one of the best trend merchants that we’ve got out there,” said Janice Kaplan, a juniorwear buyer for Federated Department Stores Inc., which is the parent company of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. “He brought to XOXO fast-fashion translated from the European streets and fashion runways very quickly in a way that the junior customer understood and at prices that she could afford.”

Fiene managed most aspects of XOXO’s business while his partners focused on the fast-paced growth of Bisou Bisou. Under Fiene’s supervision, XOXO shipped more than 400,000 units per month and close to 4 million units a year domestically.

In those days, Fiene said he never took out loans and instead used XOXO’s profits to increase volume.

“Turning down business was difficult, and it eventually put the company in a tough spot,” he said. “It was hard to tell retailers I couldn’t take on more business. Once you start rolling, it’s hard to put on the brakes, especially in the juniors business.”

Selling to expand

The desire to expand XOXO’s marketing abilities and channels of distribution despite a lack of cash flow led Fiene to buy out the Bohbots’ share of the business and put XOXO on the market.

There were several suitors, including The Warnaco Group Inc. and Tommy Hilfiger Corp. But Fiene was attracted to Aris Industries Inc. and sold XOXO to the New York company in 1999 for $25 million, plus stock options. Fiene was named vice chairman in charge of the ladies’ divisions.

Some industry observers hailed the transaction, believing it would strengthen the West Coast’s visibility as a leader in juniors apparel production. But others were a bit skeptical.

“Gregg is not a man who can work for a public company because that would limit his ability to do what he does best— predict the next trend that the market will demand and turn it out quickly,” explained former partner Marc Bohbot.

Under Aris’ control, XOXO tightened its manufacturing costs by cutting back operations and shifting production to Asia.

“One of the benefits of working at Aris was learning how to work on the corporate side of a public company,” said Fiene, who admitted it was difficult to carve his own niche within XOXO’s new structure. “There was a new system put in place, which I thought helped the company run more efficiently. But it made me realize that the most important aspect of any business for me is the people I work with and the product.”

Goodbye to XOXO

Fiene said his contributions to XOXO began to shrink gradually. Shortly after reporting a net loss of $1.2 million for the three-month period that ended March 31, 2003 (compared with a net loss of $5.6 million for the same period one year prior), Aris Industries sold XOXO for $43 million in cash to Global Brand Holdings LLC, which licensed the production of sportswear, dresses and intimate apparel to St. Louis–based Kellwood Co., a growing company that produces the Koret and Sag Harbor lines. Terms of the agreement included sell ing Aris’ XOXO, Fragile and Lola trademarks.

Shortly thereafter, Fiene left the company.

“I took some time off to play golf and think about some new strategies on how to re-enter the market,” Fiene said. “But first, I had to negotiate my way out of the noncompete clause in my contract.”

Turning a leaf

When Cyrous and Danny Foruzesh of As Is Clothing discovered Fiene was a free agent, they immediately contacted him.

“We were looking for someone who could take our labels and turn them into well-known brands,” said Danny Foruzesh, who launched the apparel company with his father nearly a decade ago. “When the opportunity came up to work with Gregg and create a new label, we didn’t want to let it pass.”

Joining As Is Clothing seems like a sensible move for Fiene, explained Foruzesh, because it allows him to concentrate on what he does best: predict and create trendy juniors apparel.

In his new position as creative director for Sele and Yank, Fiene focuses on keeping a clear and unique fashion direction for both lines. He sees growth opportunities in young women’s careeroriented apparel, a market segment he said has lost momentum as a result of new trends in casual lifestyle apparel.

Fiene has recruited former XOXO designers Kim Holbrook and Peter Shen to design Yank and Sele.

Sele, with wholesale price points ranging from $10 to $18, is sold at specialty chains including Rampage, Gadzooks and Mandy’s. The collection offers a mix of casual and career-oriented separates, such as lace camisoles, layered skirts, embroidered dresses, and tops and pants made with knit and woven fabrics.

Yank, with wholesale price points ranging from $59 to $120, is geared toward better department stores and specialty boutiques. The 300-piece collection offers twofer camisole tops, silk blouses, fitted floral-print jackets, pencil skirts, dresses and pantsuits. Each piece correlates with other pieces in the collection.

With Yank, Fiene’s aim is to reach a young customer who is somewhere between moderate juniors and contemporary. Fiene calls her “young contemporary.”

Both lines will be produced by apparel contractors in Los Angeles. Quick-turn and on-time deliveries will remain a key focus, as they were in XOXO’s original business model. Fiene said he hopes to see sales revenues reach $10 million during the next two years.

Along with a new job, Fiene has a new perspective on life.

“This time around, I want to enjoy life and my family more,” said Fiene, who lives in Manhattan Beach, Calif., with his wife and four children. “I’m very driven as a business man, but at the same time, it’s not as important to me this time around to do a $100 million or more company. I’d rather have control of what I’m doing in business and in my personal life.”