MELBOURNE: Eveden Group has scored a stockist coup for its full figure Elomi brand just weeks after instigating a 10 per cent drop in its Australian wholesale prices.
CEO of the UK-headquartered lingerie and swimwear company, Tracy Lewis, revealed department store Myer will carry Elomi product from May 2011. The deals comes after an increased focus from Eveden on its 'full figure' labels, Elomi and Goddess. The company developed the Elomi label two years ago to offer fashion forward lingerie in back sizes 36 to 48 and cup sizes E to JJ.
“At the end of this season [Elomi] will be our biggest brand in the US market, and we're expanding it in all other markets as well because there's just nothing else fashionable out there for the fuller figured woman,” Lewis said.
“We think full figure could be a very exciting entry into this market and could be worth 25 to 30 per cent of our sales within the next couple of years.”
Lewis said both Elomi and Goddess currently represent less than 10 per cent of Eveden Group's Australian sales, with the company having focused up until now on the reach of its Fantasie and Freya brands, which offer similar cup sizes but smaller back sizes.
Lewis said Myer and David Jones, which stock the Freya and Fantasie brands respectively, would also be bumping up the presence of Freya and Fantasie in their doors this year.
The department store developments are unlikely to affect Eveden's 350 Australian boutique stockists, Lewis said, despite boutiques carrying 80 per cent of Eveden product in Australia.
“In the UK, we're in every department store as well as having 30 per cent of our business still in boutiques, which is still pretty huge,” she said. “We know we can co-exist.”
The department store changes come in the wake of Eveden's decision to drop its wholesale prices for the Australian market from February 1, 2011. The reasons for the drop include the strength of the Australian dollar and the “current economic climate”, Lewis said.
“We've dropped them by about 10 per cent and what that means to the consumer is that much of our product is maybe around $10 at retail lower than it was before."
Also hitting Australian stores this winter is the company's latest acquisition, French lingerie and swim label Huit. Lewis said Huit's point of difference was its retail price points, which sit on average between $80 and $100.
"Against some of the French brands that you guys have in this market, we're actually a lot less expensive,” Lewis said.
Eveden Group entered the Australian market three years ago and has nine brands across lingerie and swimwear. The company offers product from an A to a K cup and manufactures in Sri Lanka and North Africa.
Erin O’Loughlin