California Apparel News

Ben-Avraham and Vettori join forces to launch an “affordable couture” women’s brand.

Sam Ben-Avraham and Valentino Vettori have long histories inwholesale sales and retail. Now the two veterans have set their sights on a new goal: to create a new collection of “affordable couture.”

Ben-Avraham is the owner of New York contemporary store Atrium and founder of the Project Global Trade Show, and Valentino Vettori owns the Scatola Sartoriale showroom. The pair of fashion-industry veterans have taken their expertise in retail and created a new multi-division women’s brand—called Improvd—with a strong fashion aesthetic at an affordable price point.

Having worked together and supported each other over the past 10 years in retail and on the trade-show platform, they say it was a natural evolution to collaborate and develop a brand. Vettori and Ben-Avraham say they saw an opportunity to improve the current offerings in the market by developing their own product.

Improvd, which launched for Spring 2010, has a cool sophistication and an intellectual aesthetic. It caters to the customer seeking a high-end timeless designer look but at an affordable price point. Think the European minimalist aesthetic of designers such as Helmut Lang, Rick Owens, Ann Demeulemeester and Dries Van Noten. Wholesale prices range from $19 for T-shirts to $39 for couture denim and $140 for leather jackets. Retail prices start at $41 and go up to $308.Improvd has been picked up for Spring by specialty boutiques nationwide including Intermix, Scoop, Ron Herman, American Rag, Curve and Henri Bendel. It will be offered at an in-store boutique at Atrium and TNT in Toronto.Ben-Avraham and Vettori also plan to work with retailers to develop private-label and limited-edition products.

Retail is entering a new phase, according to Ben-Avraham and Vettori. As a showroom owner, Vettori said he has always been focused on seeking out international collections, such as Vivienne Westwood “Anglomania” and Ilaria Nistri, with a certain edgy but cool high-fashion aesthetic. That usually meant a high price point.“As a businessman, I was a little disappointed because [I wondered] why do all the beautiful things have to be expensive?” Vettori said.

The combination of the slow economy and growing fast-fashion chains such as H&M and Zara has cultivated a consumer who seeks out aggressive price points and fast turnaround on trends. According to Ben-Avraham and Vettori, that left many specialty and department stores still buying from suppliers offering slower turn times and higher prices. “We can’t continue in retail the same as we did back in the ’80s and ’90s and in the early 2000s,” Ben-Avraham said. “So, [what] we are trying to accomplish over here is to give the specialty stores and department stores the ability to offer product at almost the same price point competing with the big chains with a much better aesthetic and much better quality,” he explained. Ben-Avraham said he is putting all of his energy into making sure they are creating the right product and delivering the right prices for retailers to make a much better margin. “It’s really hard to be a retailer today,” he said. “I can totally relate to them, so that’s my mission right now.” Creating the look

Vettori worked for Diesel Jeans for 10 years, heading up the Italian label’s U.S. expansion at wholesale and retail, as well as overseeing point-of-sale, visual display and marketing. He has also designed the interior of the Hotoveli boutique in New York, the artsy interior of his showrooms, and consulted on the design of the Project show and, later, the art installations at the trade show in New York and Las Vegas. His specialty is designing with minimal and basic materials.“I like to give added value to the price by using materials that are cheap and making beautiful things with little cost,” he explained. For interiors, he utilizes raw materials such as cement, wood, metal and unfinished surfaces. The aesthetic is translated into clothing by using basic materials and giving them a fashion edge. Fabrics are washed, over-dyed and distressed to capture the raw look. For example, basic sweatshirt material is reinterpreted by being washed or over-dyed, and a simple leather jacket can be transformed by cropping it and then washing it for a couture finish. Vettori also mixes fabrics such as wool, leather and jersey together in unique combinations. For Spring, the collection includes categories such as knitwear, denim, leather, outerwear, T-shirts and accessories.The brand itself is based on building deep categories rather than being item-driven. Vettori said he and Ben-Avraham will work with buyers to develop specific categories and products that fit their needs. For example, leather is an important category for the launch collection. But in subsequent seasons, it might be scaled back in favor of outdoor jackets.

“You can’t really be today just a designer with an ego,” Vettori said. “I think fashion has changed completely. Our job is to be like an antennae, to be a receptor of trends in the market and try to interpret them in a different way or just give them a twist.”