The new creative head at the helm of the Alannah Hill brand has revealed a string of changes on the horizon.
The brand's new creative director Darren Freeman-Barlow, appointed last year following Alannah Hill's departure from her namesake label, has unveiled a fresh future for the brand.
Speaking exclusively to ragtrader.com.au, Freeman-Barlow said the revamp will begin with the launch of the Alannah Hill AW14 campaign over the next couple of weeks, which will also showcase the first pieces from the brand's new diffusion line.
The diffusion line, titled simply 'Alannah', will incorporate the signature Alannah Hill style, but will also feature more daywear and corporate pieces and, most visibly, at a more affordable price range – two to three price points cheaper than the main line.
According to Freeman-Barlow, prices will range from tops for $99 up to $399 for coats and outerwear.
“The task that I was given was to look after the loyal customer. So the majority of the range – probably 75 to 85 per cent – will continue to be vintage and occasion-wear driven. So a high-proportion of silk, etc. We haven't tried to play too heavily with the previous successes.
“However, as a brand, obviously, Alannah Hill has had a long spell – a couple of decades. So I put together several focus groups of our top VIP consumers to hear what they thought about the range and whether it needed a bit of a refresh.
“What I gleaned from that is that there were certain things that used to be in the brand that are no longer. But what was missing is a daywear element, a corporate element. Also – our VIPs are selected not just on spend, but on frequency of purchase – and some of the less affluent VIPs mentioned that the brand is somewhat unattainable because of the ticket. So what we then decided to do was to put together those three elements that were missing and then to give it a more trend-driven, more affordable twist. This result is this the diffusion range, Alannah.”
The diffusion line will drop progressively into to stores from this month, to coincide with the launch of the AW14 campaign, starring X-Factor star Dami Im as the new face of the brand – which also marks another turning point for the brand.
“We're also hoping that the collaboration with Dami will in itself capture a new audience. Because it's a very tough market in Australia, made worse by the cost of staffing and the cost of doing business because of the high rents, which means you have to look for new opportunities,” Freeman-Barlow said.
“Dami is the perfect fit for the brand. The theme for the AW14 season is ‘Le Jardin Japonais’ and the opening story is called Yoko Mono – which is a play on words because the collection focuses on monochrome black and white palette, with highlights of berry red and cobalt blue with strong oriental influence in terms of prints and detailed embellishments.
“Also, if I'm being honest, we know Alannah Hill has a very strong Asian following and because the look was always going to be oriental and Asian-inspired, I felt the campaign needed a different slant, so I asked the team what they thought about using an Asian model, which had not really been done before.”
Freeman-Barlow hopes the move will inspire an air of change around the brand and also attract a new target market which will boost the brand to new highs and possibly open up new avenues such as international expansion.
He has remained tight-lipped on possible foreign target markets, but has said that the brand will first concentrate on the addition of new categories to its existing offering.
“We are considering a couple of new categories, and the Australian market will definitely see the launch of at least one new category this year, for the next summer season,” he said.