Divide to Conquer
Having established a niche, some swim brands are launching diffusion lines to expand their reach.
In swim, everybody’s got their something.
“It is a very niche-driven business,” said Lisa Rovan, executive vice president of marketing and operations for Karla Colletto Swimwear, a high-end women’s one-piece line based out of Vienna, Va. “You work so hard to make a name for your brand and stand for something. But once a brand is established and identifiable, it can be very hard for retailers to accept anything different from you.”
When Karla Colletto, Rovan’s sister and the brand’s designer, launched the company 25 years ago, bikinis were definitely part of the product mix. “Over the years, we evolved with our consumer and became more about one-piece suits. Retailers came to rely on us for one-pieces,” Rovan said. So when Colletto decided she wanted to make bikinis again, the company opted to launch K by Karla Colletto.
“This way, there is some separation, and retailers understand we’re doing something different, but we keep the cachet we’ve built in the brand,” Rovan said.
With its sporty, conservative cuts and classic colors, K by Karla Colletto is still very much in the same design vein as its big-sister brand. But with the extra skin, playful embellishments and slightly lower price point, it has the potential to reach a younger demographic.
“The idea is that K by Karla Colletto targets a similar age group of women. The difference is maybe the K woman is a little more fit. She wants some coverage, but she wants to show off a little bit more,” Rovan said. “The aesthetic is similar. K also has the dressmaker details and sophistication expected of Karla Colletto but in a different silhouette.” Targeting the same 200 retailers that currently carry Karla Colletto, K launched in 2008 with 30 pieces sold as separates. Colorways are different from the core line, but complement it so that K can merchandise well with it and be worn with Karla Colletto coverups.
Other swimwear makers have taken a similar route when they itch to try something new or reach a new demographic. Diffusion lines are becoming more prevalent in the swim industry, according to veteran retailer Diane Biggs of the popular Diane’s Beachwear chain.
“I’m seeing it more and more as brands reach to capture another area of the market. Right now is a great time to go in new directions. We’re ready for it,” Biggs said.Vitamin A Grows in Two Directions
Sometimes one new line isn’t enough. Sometimes it takes two.
“There’s a huge opportunity in developing a product extension,” said Amahlia Stevens, the designer behind the popular Vitamin A contemporary swim line, based in Costa Mesa, Calif. “The brand is growing, and we have the opportunity to innovate and maximize our creativity with design ideas that wouldn’t fit in with our current distribution and price points.” This summer, Stevens bowed Vitamin A Silver, a little-sister line with a lower price point and younger design details, and Vitamin A Signature, an exclusive high-end collection.
“We’ve established a solid base with our product, marketing and distribution. Now it’s time to strengthen the brand and appeal to a broader retail base,” Stevens said. Silver, with its younger take on Stevens’ California-girl vibe and wallet-friendly pricing, acts as a gateway into the Vitamin A brand. “[The Silver customer] has her own amazing style, and $99 to $125 for a two-piece is perfect for her. She’s getting the name and the image she wants,” the designer said.
Retailers, too, are eating up the lower price point. “When I started Vitamin A, the look and pricing was very similar to the Silver collection. But we had to evolve and become more special to stay ahead of the copycats,” Stevens said. Imported fabrics, top-notch hardware and more labor-intensive design details pushed Vitamin A’s aesthetic and price points higher each season. “Eventually, we priced ourselves out of some of the retailers we worked with in the beginning,” Stevens said. With Silver’s price point, new distribution channels are now open to the brand. Swim and surf shops, multi-unit swim chains, and even seasonal stores on the East Coast promise to be profitable new retail partners. Stevens estimates Silver will match Vitamin A’s current distribution in two years. The Signature collection isn’t the workhorse Silver promises to be, but it too opens doors for Vitamin A. Because retail prices top out at $600 and exclusive styles are crafted for stores such as Barneys New York, Signature’s distribution is high and tight.
“This is about measured growth, intelligent brand building and long-term strategy,” Stevens said. “We’re continuing to develop our infrastructure and expanding our manufacturing base to maintain quality and responsiveness.” Jungle Gurl Does More of the Same, Differently
When she launched Jungle Gurl Vintage in 2007, Los Angeles–based designer Natalie Golonka rocked the boat by specializing in skimpy bikinis made from recycled vintage garments. Teeny-tiny; cut from bright limited-edition retro florals, prints and plaids; and wholesaling for $120, Jungle Gurl Vintage’s suits were not for the faint of heart. “It was a great way to get noticed,” Golonka said. “The cut and the construction were so different from what else was going on.” Indeed, retailers took notice, and the line landed in high-end specialty boutiques around the country. But the same qualities that earned her buys also scared away potential clients.
“My price points are high, and some stores shied away from the skimpiness of the cuts,” Golonka said. The limited quantities of vintage fabrics posed a problem, too. Sometimes buyers fell in love with a print only to find out only a handful of suits were made or it was unavailable. Golonka worked to understand a buyer’s aesthetic and ship the store suits in prints she thought would work. “There was a lot of communication and extra work involved,” she said, and stores had to be flexible.
Despite the challenges, Jungle Gurl Vintage’s pricey, exclusive suits accomplished their goal, and on their backs, Golonka hopes to build a more mass-friendly brand.
Jungle Gurl, a new little-sister line debuting in 2009, combines some of the Vintage line’s best qualities with more-accessible designs and price points. Using nylon/spandex-blend yarn knitted on vintage machines, Golonka re-created a handful of her more popular prints. To appease the more conservative shopper, she also created more silhouettes—including maillots that she couldn’t make in the Vintage line because of the scarcity of fabric. Coverup dresses in ’70s hippie-chick prints and silhouettes complement the new collection.
“It’s the best of both worlds,” Golonka said. Wholesaling for $50 to $70 per suit, Jungle Gurl is significantly less expensive than the Vintage line. The vintage collection sells in high-end specialty stores such as Dolce Vita, Planet Blue and Atrium. Jungle Gurl will target department stores and swim shops. The collection, which debuted in July at the SwimShow in Miami, is still in its very beginning stages, but Golonka has high hopes for Jungle Gurl. The wider variety of suits expands her potential reach to older, more body-conscious clients while the lower price point can appeal to younger, more cash-conscious shoppers. “I feel really good about it. There is plenty of opportunity in the swim industry,” Golonka said. Kushcush by Kerry Cushman Cashes In on Brand Equity
Los Angeles–based designer Kerry Cushman isn’t shy about pushing the boundaries of her line, Kushcush by Kerry Cushman.
In 2007, she staged a runway show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, Calif., to debut her sportswear collection, which included vintage-inspired outerwear, floor-length dresses in glam-rock colors and sweet short shorts. Later that same year, she opened a namesake boutique selling her swimwear and apparel in El Segundo, Calif.—something she said gives her a bird’s-eye view into the mind of her customers and helps shape her design direction. For 2009, Cushman goes one step further with the launch of Pink Label, a nod to retailers who love her feminine designs but need a lower price point. “It’s a natural progression for the brand and falls in line with what our customer wants and needs,” she said.
Like Vitamin A, Kushcush by Kerry Cushman has upped the ante every season, going by increments in a more demure, sophisticated direction. But retailers remembered and requested a return of Kushcush’s cuter, more girly incarnation. “As a designer, that is definitely still part of my design aesthetic,” Cushman said. “It is nice to get back to that. Kushcush grew up, but we didn’t want to abandon our younger girl.” Wholesale prices for Pink Label range from $25 to $32; wholesale prices for Kushcush by Kerry Cushman range from $37 to $42.
Stores have picked up both collections, but Cushman is confident the two lines will hold their own individually. “Pink Label is driven by separates. There is a true mix-and-match approach that gives girls the ability to get creative. The signature line is all about focusing on details, the best fabrics, the great details,” Cushman said.
“We’re in a niche, but we can come out of it by digging down into our roots and listening to what the market is telling us.”
