Nigel Curtiss is breaking into wholesale.
The veteran designer, who started his career in 1984 at Comme des Garçons and has since designed men’s and women’s ready-to-wear under his namesake label, is taking a tight selection of pieces to Linda’s, the Bergdorf Goodman shop named after and architected by senior vice president of women’s fashion and store presentation director Linda Fargo.
The assortment entails one-of-a-kind evening jackets rendered in upcycled vintage kimonos, tuxedo pants and silk shirts, and are being merchandised on a rolling basis.
Curtiss, who has made bespoke suits for the likes of Derek Jeter and Duran Duran’s Simon LeBon, said the entry came organically and women’s fashion is still a new category. “Two years ago, we first did women’s ready-to-wear,” he said. “A good friend of ours called and said we would be hearing from Linda Fargo, she loves your jackets, she loves the concept. They’re completely unique, and it’s great for Linda’s space because they’re items that nobody else in the world has.”
The kimonos, sourced from Japan and then fabricated in Italy, are “quite a labor of love,” he said. “You buy a kimono, which could be anywhere from 20 to 100 years old, and there’s just enough fabric to make one or maybe one-and-a-half jackets out of it.”
Tailoring on the women’s side of the business has become Curtiss’s calling card. “We’ve established a little niche of what we’re doing,” he said, calling out a printed denim suit from last season, tuxedos and brocade suits he’s done recently. He’s also seen success with silk pajama sets. “They are all selling really well, clients are coming back and buying again.”
The timing is right for the brand, Curtiss reasoned, despite the shapeshifting retail landscape in the U.S. and waning consumer spend on luxury goods. “It’s really significant for us,” he said. “When you have a new brand, people might see it somewhere and keep kicking it down the road, but everyone waits for a seminal moment. In New York, anybody that comes to town is going to check out Linda’s store, and every store in the country looks at what she’s got. We hope it’s going to be important for us.”
He said not to anticipate a rapid-fire expansion nationally, though. “We’re not jumping straight in with 500 stores,” he said, noting growing interest in his tailored offerings. “We feel we’ve jumped right in at the top.”
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