SYDNEY: Alex Perry has teamed up with David Jones to create an exclusive line of women’s executive apparel, due to hit the department store’s floors in July.
The as-yet unnamed collaboration will feature tailored separates, dresses and jackets in fabrications including Italian wool.
“I’ve always done a lot of tailoring for customer clients,” Perry said. “We’ve done jackets, we’ve done wardrobes for women. We know how to do it really well but it’s been difficult working that into people’s perception of the range when they come to see it for boutiques – ‘What are those suits and things hanging up there?’”
“We identified that with David Jones. They needed [workwear], I could do it.”
In addition to two deliveries to David Jones scheduled for July and August/September, Perry said the collection will also be available to wholesale customers.
While he has yet to do final costings for the new product, Perry anticipates retail price points will sit close to $590 for tailored jackets, $450 for dresses and $295 for skirts.
The colour palette will stay close to black and white and include a black pinstripe and black and white print.
“It’s the little black dress that you could be corporate at work – it’s not showing too much – but it’s sexy enough that you could wear it to dinner,” Perry said.
The collaboration feeds into Perry’s desire to spend less time on custom design and more energy on ready-to-wear collections, particularly for his burgeoning younger client base.
“I’ve got women of all ages but I suppose because of [Australia’s Next] Top Model more than anything else, it’s just opened up this whole new younger client base for me,” he said. “It’s made a big shift in the business.”
In addition to catering to younger clients via his four accessory collections for chain store Diva, Perry is also working to change the composition of his ready-to-wear collections.
“When I was working on summer two years ago, 80 per cent of the range was a bit more ladylike. Now it’s flipped around so we’re looking at 60, 70 per cent of a younger feel.”
Perry has created 30 ready-to-wear styles for winter 2011 and expects to expand his spring/summer 2011/12 ready-to-wear collection beyond its usual 55 styles.
“The more popular it all gets, the sell-throughs are getting better and better, then we’ll probably do injection ranges. It’s the part of the business that has real growth.”
Erin O’Loughlin