Schiavi takes a snip at America's waistline
SYDNEY: Bruno Schiavi never thought he'd be in a position to decline an offer from American department store giant Macy's.
But that's exactly what the Sydney-based fashion entrepreneur did earlier this year when Macy's competitor Sears, the second largest retailer in America, offered to stock his new shapewear collection in 860 stores nationwide.
"It's really intense because Sears normally take four months to sign you up as a new vendor and they did it for us in two weeks," he said. "I can tell you, I'm still pinching myself thinking I've just said no to 500 Macy's stores."
The founder of Jupi Corporation, a fashion company which has worked with singer Delta Goodrem and radio personality Jackie O on apparel collections, is on the cusp of launching a joint shapewear venture in the United States.
Developed in collaboration with high-profile plastic surgeon Dr Robert Ray, whose reality show Dr 90210 draws 374 million worldwide viewers a night, the shapewear collection is the first of its kind in the world.
"We've taken Robert's plastic surgery techniques, when he does a tummy tuck or a breast lift, and implemented that in a garment," Schiavi said. "Who better to believe and who better to take advice from than a plastic surgeon?"
Comprising 250 SKUs in two colours, the first collection includes 11 lines in six different sizes. Due to the sheer size of the offering, paired with the competitive price points of $19.99 to $39.99, Sears has offered a separate point-of-sale system and in-store branding for the October launch.
Schiavi said a $20 million PR and marketing campaign would further bolster the high-profile release with a "celebrity studded" launch party in Los Angeles, in-store appearances, an ongoing one-hour show with shopping channel HSN and various television appearances. These include a spot on Oprah, Dr Phil, The Tyra Banks Show and Today.
The entrepreneur is also in negotiations with Australian and UK retailers for a broader, worldwide launch for next year. He said if discussion went to plan, the line would be released in the Australian market in early 2008.
"For me, we have to be competitive but always keep our quality standards. Our quality standards so far have been extraordinary and I kind of attribute that to working with retailers in Australia."
Macy's, the first department store to make an offer for the line and whom Schiavi strategically declined in favour of Sears, is also expected to stock Dr Rey's Instant Shape in late 2008.
By Assia Benmedjdoub