An Aesthetically pleasing growth
Apparel company Aesthetics Group is embarking on a one-way growth curve.
The designer and entry level luxury brands retailer and wholesaler - which started life as the Australasian licensee for UK retail label Karen Millen in 2004 - has three new brands set to enter the Australian market.
The group's managing director, Shaf Dewani, said French luxury essentials label Zoe Tee from Paris officially launched this week along with the opening of its first Australian store in Melbourne's Collins Street.
"Zoe Tee is a really beautiful brand, built around luxury essentials in cashmere, premium cottons, superfine jerseys and silk jersey blends and positioned as a designer basics range, with price points averaging around $200," he said, adding the brand would span both the retail and wholesale sectors.
Paul & Joe Sister, the "younger sister" to Aesthetics' licensee Paul & Joe - is also entering the market as a wholesale label.
"Paul & Jo Sister is aimed at the design conscious 20-something market. With prices averaging around $300, its peers would be Alice McCall or Fleur Wood," he said, adding the label's "older sister" Paul & Joe entered the retail market in July with a store in Sydney's Bondi Junction shopping centre.
Meanwhile, French wholesale label American Retro, selling now and instore from February, offered a "re-interpretation of vintage clothing with a contemporary twist".
"American Retro is aimed again at the 20-something market with an average price point of around $200 and its peers would be labels like Gorman, Nevenka and Alice McCall," Dewani said.
Aesthetics Group aimed to become Australia's leading multi-brand fashion group, a strategy that was already beginning to play itself out, Dewani added.
"Our belief is that well managed wholesale and retail licenses can be as lucrative as proprietary brands and it's a strategy that has proven very successful. We've tripled our top and bottom line growth since we first started trading in March 2004 and I think that's because consumers are really responding to our offer."
International brands were increasingly approaching the company, he said.
"Firstly Australia is now on the radar globally and secondly, overseas labels are seeing their brand peers' success here, asking: "Who is our consumer down under?", and then identifying which stores resonate. The result is that we're coming up on a lot of shortlists."
By Belinda Smart