Minkpink joins Macy's fold

SYDNEY: Fast fashion wholesale label Minkpink has joined the fold of one of the world's largest department stores.

The Sydney-based brand, which launched just three years ago, has added mid-range retailer Macy's to its rapidly expanding international stockist base. Already stocked in boutiques across Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand, the label's announcement comes only weeks after it was picked up by another high-profile US retailer, youthwear chain Urban Outfitters.

Minkpink founder Rachel Evans said the department store deal had come about after a chance spotting by one of the New York-headquartered store's buyers. With Minkpink now doing nine ranges per year, Macy's buyers agreed to merchandise the brand across 30 outlets.

Evans said the Urban Outfitters deal had come about through the brand's US agent with a company representative confirming the order after visiting the brand's Surry Hills headquarters during a trip to Sydney. The range supplied for the US market - which includes skirts, tops and jackets - would be the same as the one sold to Australian buyers, she said. The announcement now means Minkpink's wholesale accounts have topped the 400 mark, forcing Evans to double her staff and consider further expansion.

While she would not be drawn on financial details, Evans said the deals had increased turnover "significantly".
Evans said that while fears of a recession following the US credit crunch had turned many would-be apparel exporters away from the American marketplace, the number of inquiries she was fielding from US retailers suggested all was not as bad as first thought.

"We were not in the US before the credit crunch so we are only dealing with what we know now. I have been travelling the world over the past two years and realised there was a gap in the market for Minkpink and there was also huge demand from international buyers. [That said] every part was difficult from the bureaucratic side to the logistics and the financial sides."

By Tracey Porter