AUCKLAND: New Zealand-based brand Trelise Cooper has launched a new line of apparel in Australia via department store giant David Jones, designed to fill the niche left by local label Sass & Bide.
Sass & Bide moved from David Jones to rival Myer in February this year, after the department store purchased a 65 per cent stake of the label to the tune of $42.5 million. According to Trelise Cooper, designer and director of the eponymous brand, David Jones approached her late last year to commission the creation of an apparel line that would tackle a similar market to Sass & Bide.
“We had talked about doing a younger range for a long time, but David Jones brought it to our attention and it was their impetus to go ahead with it,” she said.
The ensuing collection, “Coop”, will launch this month via 15 selected David Jones stores nationally, as well as 40 other boutiques and stockists across the country.
Cooper said the line, designed by Lauren Connolly and Alexandra Dunn, will fall under the Trelise Cooper brand umbrella but will be marketed as separate from the existing apparel collections – “Trelise Cooper” and “Cooper by Trelise”.
The first 45-piece range, titled “Badlands”, includes fabrics such as silk, suede, leather, and chiffon, with embellishments ranging from kaleidoscopic prints and dreamcatcher embroidery to metal, feathers, sequins and bleached bone. Key colours for the debut collection include “dirty metallics” and desert dust tones mixed with citrus yellow, orange and turquoise. Pieces will retail from $245 to $495, with tops under $100.
Cooper said her company has teamed with a PR agency to assist with the “Coop” launch in Australia, with plans to expand the collection if sales are successful.
“We will market it online via blogs and social media and we have a PR agency which we will work with on this, but we want to get product in-store first and gauge customer reaction to it,” she said.
“We have big plans for it [Coop]. We would like it to become the most important brand for David Jones’ first floor and hope it continues to grow every season. Eventually we would like to be a complete brand, including not just apparel, but also accessories and footwear, but at this stage it’s just about getting it up and running.”
Daniela Aroche