Walmart hired Brandon Maxwell as creative director for its high fashion brands.
Walmart
Walmart wants to establish itself in fashion. She called on Brandon Maxwell, a stylist who dresses celebrities from Lady Gaga to Michelle Obama, to boost her reputation.
Maxwell will oversee the elevated discount store brands, Scoop and Free Assembly, as creative director. The 36-year-old designer lives in New York City. He was a judge on Bravo’s “Project Runway” and creates a luxury brand sold by retailers like Neiman Marcus with items that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars each.
Working with Walmart, however, Maxwell said he could fit more budgets and reach more buyers – including friends and family in his hometown of Longview, Texas. Its first complete collections will be available in the spring of 2022.
“I am not a person who believes that fashion is just something on the surface. I believe that it is a way of telling the world ‘This is who I am’ and that it has the power to do that,” he told CNBC. “Being able to take this to so many different people and communities like mine, in which I grew up, always seemed like the goal.”
In recent years, Walmart has expanded beyond the basics of clothing. The retailer acquired established clothing brands, such as men’s clothing retailer Bonobos, and launched its own brand. She added about 1,000 national names to her website, including Champion, Levi Strauss and Free People. And struck a deal with ThredUp, a seller of second-hand clothes, shoes and accessories, to offer more sophisticated brands on a budget.
The retailer launched four exclusive and elevated brands: Sofía Jeans, developed with actress Sofia Vergara; Eloquii Elements, a women’s line of large sizes inspired by the acquired brand Eloquii; Free Assembly, own male and female brand for everyday fashion; and Scoop, a brand focused on trends that Walmart has revived.
However, the world’s largest retailer in terms of revenue is better known for low prices than high fashion. Its national footprint of more than 4,700 stores is largely concentrated in suburban areas and small cities, rather than in fashion centers like New York and Los Angeles. Many of your trendy clothes can only be found online.
Denise Incandela, executive vice president of clothing and private brands at Walmart, said this is changing. After testing and selling her own brands online, she said customers will see them in more physical stores. This spring, Sofia Jeans will be in 1,000 stores. Free Assembly will be in 500 stores, Scoop will be in 250 stores and Elloquii Elements will be in 100 stores.
She said the retailer plans to sell more national brands in stores and make clothing showcases more attractive with mannequins and creative images. It will also add a children’s line to Free Assembly and Scoop.
Walmart has 13 private goods brands in general that generated $ 1 billion or more in annual sales. Three of its private clothing lines are $ 2 billion brands. The company declined to name the brands.
Stacey Widlitz, a retail consultant and founder of SW Retail Advisors, said Walmart should prove to younger shoppers who are concerned with the style that their stores and website are places to stock the closet, not just the refrigerator.
“The challenge for them is to really shape the minds of consumers who are becoming a fashion destination,” she said. “It is not an overnight solution. [Walmart] it’s food. There are several basic principles. Walmart is not synonymous with fashion at this time. “
She said she is after Target, her smaller, larger rival that has established itself as a chic, inexpensive retailer with stylish, refurbished stores and popular brands.
Free assembly male lifestyle
Source: Walmart
But she pointed to Walmart’s free assembly line, launched last fall, as a sign of progress. She said that Walmart needs to accelerate the pace of private brands.
Walmart’s e-commerce sales in the United States grew 79% in the most recent fiscal year, as more buyers dispatched their purchases to their homes or took online orders from the parking lot during the pandemic. Its same-store sales grew 8.6% compared to the previous fiscal year. The company did not disclose how much of the sales growth came from goods in general, such as clothing.
As some basic malls, such as Macy’s and JC Penney, have lost their balance, Walmart and other stores outside the malls have the opportunity to gain credibility and market share in general merchandise categories, such as beauty and clothing.
Incandela said Walmart wants to be a convenient place where consumers can find a wider variety for their wardrobes, from T-shirts to flashy clothes. She said the retailer will continue to experiment with ways to make a good impression, from displaying clothes differently on its website to reaching customers on TikTok.
“We are at the beginning of this journey,” she said. “We have a lot of work to do.”
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of Bravo and CNBC.