Justin Timberlake's fashion line William Rast is expanding
globally. The line was founded by Justin and his friend Trace Ayala and features sportswear and denim. Three stores opened in California on November 1st and the company is planning a rollout of up to 50 units by 2012.
The company's strategy is quite interesting. It's expanding during the recession in order to lock up leases in upscale malls at bargain basement prices. The company is avoiding high profile streets such as Melrose in Los Angeles and stand-alone stores. The company wants the walk-in traffic that upscale malls provide. The expansion is being overseen by Colin Dyne, the CEO of People's Liberation, the L.A. based company that runs the operations of Rast, as well as of its own brand and of J. Lindeberg. WWD reports:
Unlike denim competitors who have raised their retail flags on high-profile streets such as Robertson Boulevard and Melrose Place in Los Angeles, William Rast opted for shopping malls. Dyne said he will step outside of the mall in cities such as New York, where the company is considering a spot in SoHo near the J. Lindeberg store on Spring Street.
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Working with the Los Angeles-based architecture firm Johnston Marklee, William Rast transported the rugged Americana found in Timberlake and Ayala's home state of Tennessee to Tinseltown for an aesthetic dubbed New America. In the 1,850-square-foot store in Century City, the design offsets matte black shelves filled with jeans retailing for $165 to $245 with wide planks of plywood, which were seamed together to create high tables and an angular arch stretching above shoppers' heads. Vintage dress forms show off the $350 men's houndstooth blazer, $229 women's jean jacket and $250 vest dotted with grommets.
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Booming through the stereo speakers is a mix of rock and blues tunes that Timberlake compiled for the soundtracks played during the brand's fashion shows. In addition, Timberlake can be seen taking a bow at the end of the fall 2009 runway show playing on a TV screen in the store. Other than that, there's no visible sign of Timberlake in the store. It's a deliberate move to distance William Rast from the cult of personality that often swarms -- and sometimes detracts from -- a celebrity brand.
"We've always made sure that it's about the product first," Dyne said. "We use Justin in the right ways. He was in our first ad campaign and he’ll be in our next ad campaign."
Johan and Marcella Lindeberg have gotten excellent reviews in their tenure as chief designers for the line. They are launching a more upscale line of their own again (they were the founders of J. Lindeberg) in the fall of 2010. Presumably they will continue to design for William Rast, as well.
