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

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

The agreement with Neiman’s is a step forward in Centric’s strategy to build Zac Posen into a lifestyle brand. Zac Posen girls’ dresses will launch in fall 2022 at better department stores. Centric acquired Zac Posen and all its intellectual property from Z Spoke LLC in 2020, and has overseen the brand’s licensed portfolio and in-house handbag lines since then.

“We believe there is a white space in the marketplace for beautifully crafted clothing, especially in occasion dressing,” said Melissa Lafere-Cobb, senior vice president and division head, Zac Posen. The new fall rtw line officially launches Sept. 5.

“Launching 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 drapes but in a more minimal and approachable way; a bold color palette, and attention to finishing and details.” It starts being sold later in August in 18 Neiman Marcus stores and on 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 flagship e-commerce experience in late September at zacposen.com.

Centric also owns and operates Hudson, Robert Graham, Avirex, Fiorelli and Taste Beauty and operates a joint venture 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 majority sponsor. The restructuring enabled Centric to eliminate about $700 million in debt. Through the pandemic and bankruptcy, Centric shut its own stores, mostly under the BCBG Max Azria, Robert Graham and Joe’s Jeans banners. — David Moin

BROOKLYN BOUND: Glossier is heading to Brooklyn.

While the Emily Weiss-founded beauty business recently announced that is entering Sephora, it has not given up on its own stores and plans to open a location at the cross section of North 6th Street and Wythe Street in Williamsburg, WWD has learned.

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

In addition to a Brooklyn store, Glossier’s new chief executive officer Kyle Leahy told staffers earlier this week that the flagship in the SoHo neighborhood would reopen in 2023, while other stores in the U.S. are also in motion.

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

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

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

MARKETING RESALE: After years without one, ThredUp announced Noelle Sadler has joined the company as its chief marketing officer.

Most recently serving as CMO for e-tailer Lulus, Sadler also counts marketing executive experience at MAC Cosmetics and Retold Recycling, a subscription-based clothing clean-out service that she cofounded. A New York University fine arts alum, Sadler obtained additional schooling in business administration and sustainable business strategy.

“ThredUp is undeniably changing the way the world shops, and I’m eager to further 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 reducing fashion waste.”

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

The U.S. secondhand market was valued at $35 billion in 2021 and is expected to more than double by 2026, reaching $82 billion, according to the ThredUp’s 2022 Resale Report. With the secondhand market still in expansion mode — and start-ups popping up, seemingly, every day — the new hire will be advantageous in helping ThredUp cut through the noise.

“We’re thrilled to have Noelle on board and look forward to leveraging her expertise in marketing and merchandising to continue creating a seamless experience for shoppers that urges them to choose used, and ultimately inches the industry closer to a more sustainable future for fashion,” Anthony Marino, president of ThredUp, told WWD.

Asked what 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 we love to see entrants to the ad landscape — like Netflix — shaking things up. Still, our best advertisers are our customers who tell all their friends to shop ThredUp.”

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

Marketing aside, logistics are big business.

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

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