California Apparel News

Uri Harkham, founder of Harkham Industries, which includes the Jonathan Martin and Hype labels, recently announced a joint venture with Swat/Fame for Jonathan Martin junior apparel, specifically sportswear and dresses.

“We are excited about the venture with Swat/Fame,” said Harkham. “We have had one of the most successful seasons for juniors—sales were 18–40 percent higher than last year. [There were] tremendous reorders.”

Harkham explained that he struck the deal with three of the principals of Swat/ Fame: Bruce Stern, chief executive officer; Mitch Quaranta, chief operations officer; and John Quaranta, vice president of operations. The agreement calls for Swat/ Fame to produce junior apparel under the Jonathan Martin label.

“[Swat/Fame has] a tremendous operation where they can produce mass quantities of dresses and sportswear,” said Harkham. “They can produce Jonathan Martin and it will be under Harkham Industries.” Harkham noted that his company retained ownership of the Jonathan Martin brand and will continue to design and market the label, as well as continue to produce Jonathan Martin sleepwear and apparel under the Hype brand.

Harkham emphasized that the production agreement will not affect other operations of Jonathan Martin or Hype.

“We are continuing to produce Jonathan Martin Studio, which is missy dresses, as well as Jonathan Martin Kids and Hype Ready-T-Wear,” he explained. “We have another division called James Shoes under Hype and Jonathan Martin, and the reaction of the retailers is phenomenal. We do shoes under Hype and Jonathan Martin, and we have Hype bags.”

Harkham said that in addition to a newly introduced T-shirt line, further expansion is in the plans. “We are negotiating to do Jonathan Martin bags and accessories,” he said. “The younger generation will also bring in other new ideas.”

Jonathan Martin has launched a T-shirt line with Harkham’s oldest son, John, as the designer. This is a move to prepare him for leadership within the company. The line is called O-zone. John Harkham has also launched a boys’ and girls’ segment of the Jonathan Martin and Hype sleepwear lines.

“John is an artist/painter and I am preparing a transition to pass the torch to the younger generation,” said the elder Harkham.

Uri Harkham said that he is bringing his son into the business in an effort to reduce the average age of Jonathan Martin/ Harkham Industries employees from about 52—Uri Harkham’s age—to closer to 28, which is John Harkham’s age. The production agreement with Swat/Fame was another element in the younger approach strategy.

“[Swat/Fame’s] Bruce, Mitch and John are all young,” said Uri Harkham. “I want my company and my brands to last. Humans don’t last but a brand can. We have the recipe already, so I will let them do their own cooking, and we are so much more vibrant with youth in our camp.”

The joint venture with Swat/Fame is one of several planned joint ventures forHarkham Industries. The company entered into a licensing agreement last year with the New York-based Mondani Group to produce Jonathan Martin bags. Discussions are under way with manufacturers in Japan about producing Jonathan Martin bags in that country.

Uri Harkham founded Harkham Industries in 1975. Today, in addition to his apparel lines, his holdings include a contemporary art collection, restaurants, hotels, and real estate throughout California.