Affliction Beefs Up Exec Ranks, Announces Plans for Women's, Retail and Licensing
Seal Beach, Calif.–based menswear brand Affliction has announced big changes.
Chief among them is the hiring of 10 executives over the last several months. The positions—which include chief financial officer, chief information officer, women’s design director, vice president of licensing and international sales, chief administrative officer, general counsel, merchandising director, director of international sales, director of licensing, director of legal affairs, and corporate controller—are all new positions at Affliction.
“The four founders of Affliction got the brand to this point with a lot of hard work and only 30 employees,” said Eric Foss, who along with Clifton Chason, Courtney Dubar and Todd Beard founded the brand. “But we’re all also mostly on the creative side, and we needed a support system that would help us grow into the future we envisioned for the brand,”
The 3-year-old brand, which launched in Long Beach, Calif., and became linked with the mixed martial arts scene, expects to reach $100 million in revenues in 2008. Since its inception as a T-shirt brand, Affliction has grown to include men’s denim, knits and wovens. Now with its newly assembled executive ranks, the brand is set to grow in a variety of directions.
Denim, which is a part of Affliction’s current offerings, will be a big push. “A lot of the people we hired have very strong backgrounds in denim, and it will play a big role for us as a brand,” Foss said. The men’s collection will continue to evolve into a more sophisticated direction, he added. T-shirts will still be key, but the introduction of pieces such as blazers, outerwear and sterling-silver jewelry will elevate the brand, executives hope.
Though a name still hasn’t been decided upon, a women’s contemporary collection will launch with the Fall 2009 season. As with the men’s collection going forward, denim will be the key component, with “sexy tops and dresses” thrown in for good measure. Set to debut at Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s, Affliction’s women’s denim will retail for $155 to $222, while tops and dresses will retail for $95 to $600, Foss said.
Affliction also plans a major retail rollout in 2009. The brand opened its first store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles earlier this year and already has plans to open stores in South Beach, Fla.; Las Vegas; and Manhattan. “We plan to have 10 stores by the end of 2009,” Foss said.
Licensing of Affliction’s trademark logo and graphics-heavy aesthetic is yet another focus for the brand— with executives aiming to make licensing account for as much as 15 percent of the brand’s business next year. “There are a lot of interesting options,” Foss said, pointing out potential agreements for licensed footwear, sunglasses, fragrance and watches.The company, which now has 80 employees, has a goal of $1.25 million to $1.4 million in revenues for 2009, according to Foss. —Erin Barajas
