AELLA

Aella: From L.A. E-Tail to a Bloomie’s Pop-up

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The Aella pop-up at Bloomingdale’s Manhattan store

Eunice Cho always thought that chic office clothes were uncomfortable and too high maintenance. She wanted bottoms from her Los Angeles women’s fashion line, Aella, to look like slacks but feel like yogawear.

The high concept paid off for the downtown Los Angeles label. It has been able to sell pants for $150 to $250 as a pureplay—or Internet-only—vertical retailer since 2014.

But after keeping a relatively low profile on the digital world—and a short-lived pop-up shop last December in Los Angeles—Aella will take a bow in one of American retail’s biggest forums.

One March 30, it will open an Aella pop-up shop at the Bloomingdale’s flagship in New York at 1000 Third Ave. in Manhattan. The pop-up will last until May 1.

“It’s the big leagues,” Cho said of Bloomingdale’s. “Previously, we only had to supply our own website demand. Now we must service a store that fills up an entire New York City block.”

Aella will maintain a 220-square-foot space on the third floor of the iconic retailer, which made splashes with branding details such as its “Little Brown Bags” and the store’s checkerboard floors. Featured at the Bloomingdale’s pop-up will be the brand’s best-selling high-waist flare and ankle skinny pants. But they’ll be available in new colors for Spring including khaki, gray, navy and light blue. The bottoms are made out of fabrics such as “Matte Skin,” made in Italy, which resembles a performance fabric. There’s also “Powder Skin,” a stretch twill that more resembles officewear. It is made in Turkey.

Aella customers also will view tees made out of a “Featherskin” fabric, which is proprietary to Aella. Also available are the brand’s convertible duster jackets and its short-sleeve blazers. Cho will often be at the pop-up to provide styling tips for her brand. It is a big step up for Aella. It’s always been a small, tightly controlled, LA-based manufacturer that makes runs of clothes that are in the hundreds, not thousands, of items.

Cho plans to chart steady growth for her brand. “We would love to have bricks-and-mortar flagships in the next few years, but where we will specifically be, I can’t say. We’ll follow where our customers are.”