California Apparel News

Contemporary brand Hale Bob is making strides toward the coveted lifestyle-brand distinction by expanding beyond its sexy tops and skirts. The rapidly growing Vernon, Calif.–based company is debuting a new line of casual tops and delivering several new categories.

Known for its embellished, hippie-chic date-night tops, the company is diversifying this year by offering a dress collection, licensed shoe line, an in-house purse line and Hale Bob Craft, a collection of embellished jersey, garment-dyed tops.

Hale Bob, which launched in the United States in 2001, has been on a growth track for several years, doubling its sales of $8 million in 2004 to $16 million in 2005.

“We hope to reach $20 million this year,” said Daniel Bohbot, the brand’s owner/designer who originally started the line in France in 2000 but was guided to the United States by brother Marc, founder of Bisou Bisou.

The rapid growth spurt is in response to customer demand for Hale Bob’s Los Angeles nightlife-inspired styles, which range from clingy velvet skirts to embroidered lace camisoles, Bohbot said.

The brand sells its West Coast glamour internationally, including to Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Greece. “We want to give [our] customers what they want,” he said.

What they want is more of the same Hale Bob aesthetic. So cue the dresses, shoes, handbags and casual tops. “I believe we are a lifestyle brand,” Bohbot said. “Our clothes take girls from work to night. It’s all very sexy, but some of it is casual.”

The dress collection, which will include 10 to 15 pieces per season, features Hale Bob’s trademark high-end fabrications of burnout velvet and chiffon and embellishments of beads and embroidery.

While the brand’s tops benefited fromthe premium-denim market, Hale Bob’s dresses are hitting the market just as a girly aesthetic is picking up steam. “Dresses are totally back,” Bohbot said. “Girls want to be feminine and sexy.”

The line, which will be carried by Macy’s West and Nordstrom, begins to ship at the end of May. Wholesale prices range from $88 to $128.

Also shipping in May is the brand’s first shoe line, being done with New York–based Titan Industries, which has the license to make shoes for Antik Denim, Liz Claiborne and JLO by Jennifer Lopez.

The Hale Bob shoe line includes boots, pumps, sandals and flats. Made of leather, suede, lace and brocade, the line includes characteristic Hale Bob embellishments, including jeweled buckles, ribbon trim and velvet bows. “They’re very sexy to match the dresses,” Bohbot said. The line will wholesale from $39 to $108.

The shoes, which debuted in February, were originally set to ship in August, but retailer response was strong enough to persuade Titan to push up the delivery date.

Handbags are also on the horizon for Hale Bob. Designed in-house and manufactured in Italy, the purses will debut with the Cruise season. The line will offer various styles, from larger shapes to smaller party purses, and retail from $150 to $300.

Craft, the new line of tops, is Hale Bob’s effort to offer its customer a more casual look. “Knits are important,” Bohbot said. “Craft is the same [Hale Bob] idea, just in jersey.” The line includes garment-dyed tanks, long-sleeve tops, tunics and T-shirts. Ribbon trims, beading, bows, screen prints and dye treatments are universal to the daywear collection. Wholesale price points range from $29 to $58.

With the addition of the new categories, Hale Bob is making a play for more of its existing customers’ cash but is not necessarily looking to widen its customer base.

“They were developed with the same customer in mind,” Bohbot said. Distribution of the new categories will be closely watched. The brand wants to expand its retailer base but sees a real growth opportunity in further establishing the brand in its existing accounts. “We want to support them and keep the product exclusive,” Bohbot said.

Frances Harder, president of Fashion Business Inc., a Los Angeles–based apparel industry association, said staying within the niche it created is a smart move for a company such as Hale Bob. If they were to shoot for a new demographic, “they’d have to re-brand themselves for a whole new customer, and there’s the danger it could stretch them out too far,” Harder said.

Some companies that have attempted to become lifestyle brands have fallen under the burden of adding unfamiliar categories to their repertoire.

“Premium-denim companies are a good example of this,” Harder said. After establishing solid branding, the temptation is to grow too quickly through licensing, so keeping the bulk of its new categories in-house will allow Hale Bob to control how the brand grows, Harder said. “If you’re not careful you can lose control of the product and quality,” she added.

Betty Goldie, owner of the Yellowdog boutique in Los Angeles, has carried Hale Bob since its inception and will add Hale Bob’s dresses to her retail mix.

“I really like the brand,” Goldie said. “They’re consistent with their fashion and the concept is excellent.”