Duff to expand fashion empire

Teen superstar Hilary Duff will expand her fashion and lifestyle empire early next year with the launch of a new clothing and fragrance line.
The singer-actor recently signed a fragrance deal with global cosmetic company Elizabeth Arden, the first piece of the Duff beauty oeuvre, which will see a line of branded perfume launch in selected stores in the US in autumn 2006, followed closely by Australia and New Zealand.
In 2007 Duff, who is set to take on the role of chief designer for her existing fashion labels Stuff by Hilary Duff and My Stuff 2, will also launch a third self-titled apparel label.
Whilst reluctant to divulge too many details about the planned launch,
Robert Thorne, CEO of self-titled marketing and licensing firm which recently partnered with Duff to expand her empire, did say the label would be more of a "designer line", targeting girls in their early to mid teens. The label is expected to hit undisclosed Australian stockists in early 2007.
Kmart's exclusive deal with the star in Australia and New Zealand also looks set to continue with the singer-actor unveiling additional plans to expand her Stuff by Hilary Duff product range early next year.
"The natural progression for a business like this is to expand the offering by introducing more accessories and product," said Thorne.
"We will definately be bringing on a number of new categories. We are currently in negoiations with seven to 10 manufacturers so we can't announce specific details about the new categories until the deals are done."
Looking further down the track, Duff intends to be marketing her tween and teen labels in approximately 20 countries by the beginning of 2008.
The company is actively exploring market opportunities in Japan, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the UK.
"We expect to be in at least three new countries by late 2006 or early 2007. After that we will go at a much faster pace," said Thorne.

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