New Line, New Site for Elaine Kim
Elaine Kim, the Los Angeles–based designer behind the contemporary brand Product, has re-emerged with a new eponymous line.
Kim sold the Product line in 2000, and after an eight-year hiatus from the fashion industry, she returned in 2008 with a high-end collection called Elaine Kim. Along with the new line, Kim launched an online shop at www.elainekim.com.
This is not Kim’s first foray into e-tail. The Product line maintained its own Web store in the mid-’90s, according to Kim, in which customers could view catalogs featuring images of pieces that could be ordered by mail or phone.
For her current e-tail shop, Kim said she is going with the most directional pieces that highlight the collection’s luxury fabrications such as silk, leather and fine cotton. “The selection on the online store is a combination of my favorite statement pieces from the collection as well as bestsellers from the season,” Kim said.
According to Kim, her muses are fashion-conscious, sophisticated urban women who are more established in their careers and know their personal style. The sculptural and statement pieces of the collection are reflected in its designer price points. Dresses range from $400 to $600 retail, coats are $700 to $1,000 retail, pants go for $250 to $400 retail, and tops range from $250 to $400 retail.
Top sellers in the online boutique include “Camellia,” an asymmetric draped silk-chiffon tunic/mini-dress with smart leather-tape detailing, which retails for $495; “Callista,” a tiered silk-chiffon dress with leather detailing, which retails for $559; and “Bethany,” a dress with fold-neck detail made from Cupro cotton, which retails for $429.
The e-tail store also highlights Kim’s eco-collection, which focuses on eco-friendly pieces that bear the same sculptural design. Kim said she is committed to incorporating sustainable fabric into her collection. The online eco-collection currently features Kim’s work with Cupro cotton, a fabric derived from Japanese technology that takes discarded cotton husks or wood pulp regenerated into a smooth, rich fabric. “It is a wonderfully breathable, comfortable fabric that is hand-washable,” Kim said.
Kim plans to feature special online pop-up sales and will notify customers through an online newsletter and via the brand’s Facebook page. Kim also said she hopes to include Web video and videocasts to her site that will feature interactive, clickable technology. —Connie Cho
