Zac Posen at Neiman Marcus, Glossier Goes to Brooklyn – WWD

ZAC’S RETURN: According to Centric Brands LLC, which owns the designer brand, Neiman Marcus will launch the Zac Posen fall 2022 ready-to-wear collection with a two-season exclusive.

The deal with Neiman’s is a step forward in Centric’s strategy to build Zac Posen into a lifestyle brand. Zac Posen girls dresses will be released in Fall 2022 in select stores. Centric acquired Zac Posen and all of his intellectual property from Z Spoke LLC in 2020 and has overseen the brand’s licensed portfolio and interior bag lines ever since.

“We believe there is a white space in the market for beautifully crafted clothing, especially in casual wear,” said Melissa Lafere-Cobb, senior vice president and division head, Zac Posen. The new rtw fall line officially launches on September 5th.

“The launch of the Zac Posen ready-to-wear collection under Melissa’s leadership is an exciting opportunity to evolve and grow the brand,” said Suzy Biszantz, group president, Centric Brands.

The rtw collection, according to Centric, reflects “strong femininity” and offers “sophisticated, sexy silhouettes inspired by architectural drapery, but in a more minimal and accessible way; a bold color palette and attention to finish and detail.” Launching later in August at 18 Neiman Marcus stores and at neimanmarcus.com, the collection is priced from $495 to $1,890 and is available in sizes 0 to 14. The brand is also launching a digital e-commerce experience at the end of September at zacposen.com.

Centric also owns and operates Hudson, Robert Graham, Avirex, Fiorelli and Taste Beauty and operates a joint brand, Favorite Daughter, with Sara and Erin Foster. The company’s portfolio includes licenses for more than 100 brands including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica and Spyder.

In 2020, Centric, impacted by the pandemic, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but emerged from the restructuring process the same year with new owners Blackstone, Ares Management and HPS Investment Partners, with Blackstone Centric being the lead sponsor. The restructuring enabled Centric to eliminate about $700 million in debt. Through the pandemic and bankruptcy, Centric closed its stores, mostly under the BCBG Max Azria, Robert Graham and Joe’s Jeans banners. – David Moin

BROOKLYN CONNECTED: Glossier is moving to Brooklyn.

While the beauty business founded by Emily Weiss recently announced it’s entering Sephora, it hasn’t given up on its stores and plans to open a location in the section of North 6th and Wythe Streets in Williamsburg, WWD has learned.

A Glossier representative confirmed plans for a Williamsburg store this fall, but declined to provide more details.

In addition to a Brooklyn store, Glossier’s new chief executive, Kyle Leahy, told staff earlier this week that the SoHo flagship will reopen in 2023, while other U.S. stores are also on the move.

“I am energized by the progress we are making rapidly against our omnichannel strategy: elevating our product roadmap, launching our partnership with Sephora in early 2023, replatforming our website in fall 2022, and opening an exciting pipeline of new stores across major US cities, culminating in our return to SoHo with our NYC flagship in early 2023,” she wrote in a memo. “What excites me most is that these are not just words on a page, or plans on a strategy deck. They are actively moving and you are all making them happen.”

It comes after it was revealed that Glossier laid off 24 employees as it streamlines to meet the needs of its omnichannel strategy under Leahy, who took the reins from Weiss in May.

“Glossier’s first chapter was almost exclusively focused on a single distribution channel. Now we’ve grown, the market has evolved, and our customers are looking to us to meet them where they are: in-store, online, at retail partners and around the world,” Leahy explained. “We’re realigning our company to aligning our structure, scale and talent with our refined omnichannel strategy. While these decisions are incredibly difficult, I am confident that Glossier is positioned for success in its next chapter.” – Kathryn Hopkins

RESALE MARKETING: After years without one, ThredUp announced that Noelle Sadler has joined the company as its Chief Marketing Officer.

Most recently, serving as CMO for e-retailer Lulus, Sadler also counts executive marketing experience at MAC Cosmetics and Retold Recycling, a subscription-based clothing cleaning service she co-founded. A fine arts student at New York University, Sadler received additional education in business administration and sustainable business strategy.

“ThredUp is undeniably changing the way the world shops, and I’m eager to advance the company’s mission,” Sadler said in a statement. “My expertise is deeply rooted in consumer marketing and merchandising, while my passion closely aligns with sustainability and waste reduction in fashion.”

Sadler will apply her expertise in e-commerce marketing and trading to the secondary market. She is the company’s first dedicated CMO in nearly five years and will report to ThredUp president Anthony Marino, who previously oversaw marketing.

The second-hand market in the US was valued at $35 billion in 2021 and is expected to double by 2026, reaching $82 billion, according to ThredUp’s 2022 Resale Report. With the second-hand market still in expansion mode — and startups popping up seemingly every day — new hires will be instrumental in helping ThredUp cut through the noise.

“We are thrilled to have Noelle on board and look forward to leveraging her marketing and merchandising expertise to continue creating a seamless experience for buyers that encourages them to choose pre-owned and ultimately brings the industry closer together.” towards a more sustainable future for fashion. Anthony Marino, president of ThredUp, told WWD.

Asked which marketing channels will be key in ThredUp’s future, Marino said: “Our philosophy has always been to diversify our spend across multiple online and offline channels. We’re also active experimenters of new and emerging channels, and love to see entrants into the ad landscape – like Netflix – shaking things up. However, our best advertisers are our customers who tell all their friends to buy ThredUp.”

This spring, ThredUp took a page from Patagonia’s bold marketing playbook, recently organizing a fast-fashion boycott against Shein as well as hosting a climate-positive concert during Coachella. The company also partnered with celebrity stylist Karla Welch during the festival season and wedding season to nudge customers toward more sustainable habits.

Marketing aside, logistics is big business.

When it comes to how ThredUp is smoothing out the friction in behind-the-scenes processing times, Marino said construction of the 600,000-square-foot distribution center outside Dallas is making steady progress and is on track to begin processing this year.

“Once fully completed, the new four-level facility will bring ThredUp’s total network capacity to 16.5 million items – a 150 percent increase from our current capacity. We’re confident that with these investments, we’ll unlock ever-higher steady-state processing over time—a critical contribution to sustainable future growth,” said Marino. — Kaley Roshitsh