Country: Canada

A deal has been inked between Canada-based global lifestyle brand for both women and men, Naked Brand Group Inc. and privately held Bendon Limited – a world leader in intimate apparel and an iconic New Zealand company – for merger.

According to the agreement, Naked and Bendon will become wholly-owned subsidiaries of Bendon Group Holdings Limited, a newly formed Australian holding company (Holdco).

“We are pleased to have reached a definitive agreement with Bendon, which is the culmination of much hard work,” said Carole Hochman, Naked’s CEO and Chief Creative Officer, adding, “We believe that this merger is structured to benefit our shareholders as well as the go-forward business. We look forward to closing this transaction in due course.”

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Naked Brand Group and Bendon Limited announced Letter of Intent to merge in January this year. “This transformative merger will create a powerful portfolio of iconic innerwear, sleepwear, and swimwear brands. We believe this merger will enable the combined company to strengthen its global industry leadership and continue to drive growth over the long term,” said Justin Davis-Rice, Executive Chairman of Bendon.

Canada Goose, an internationally recognized brand for high quality apparel and extreme weather outerwear, has announced to debut in UK. The retailer will open its first flagship store at London’s Regent Street, one of the UK’s leading shopping streets. The store is expected to be inaugurated in time for the holiday season.

The company will also open a new flagship stores in Chicago, US this autumn as part its global expansion plan. However, the exact location of the store is yet to be decided.

“Opening our first European store is not only a milestone for Canada Goose, but it’s turning a dream into reality. London and Chicago are world-renowned shopping destinations and I’m proud to bring our Canadian heritage, experience and unparalleled product to their historic streets,” said Dani Reiss, President & CEO, Canada Goose in a statement.

Apart from brick and mortar, the fashion retailer is eyeing to expand its e-commerce channel in seven new markets this year, including the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg.

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Reiss further stresses that the UK remains an “important market” for the brand. “London, and the UKin general, is a very important market for us. I don’t think Brexit has affected London’s reputation. It’s one of the most important cities for brands to be present in, in this global world.”

The company opened its flagship stores in Toronto and New York recently. At the moment the company aims to open 15 to 20 stores by 2020, remaining selective about the markets it opens in.

Toronto’s Yorkville Village is all set to welcome new fashion tenants this year, along with some first to market stores for Canada.

The shopping centre, owned by First Capital Realty (FCR), will welcome luxury British sportswear brand Belstaff, Italian luxury label Eleventy’s first stand-alone store in Canada, Quebec shoe retailer JP Fortin’s first Ontario flagship (known in Quebec as Jean Paul Fortin), as well as TNT Concept and multi-brand store Nanni among others.

Also Read – Off-White inaugurates first North American flagship store

Previously known as Hazelton Lanes, the shopping centre has been under-going redevelopment since 2015 and has been transformed into a new shopping, dining and lifestyle destination.
 
“Our significant investment in the redevelopment of Yorkville Village reflects the transformation underway in the Bloor-Yorkville neighbourhood,” said Adam Paul, President and Chief Executive Officer, First Capital Realty Inc., adding, “This transformation is being driven by the demographic tailwind that will see a meaningful increase to the local population and consequently the evolution of Bloor-Yorkville as a larger, stronger world-class retail destination in which Yorkville Village is very well positioned.”

In total, FCR has invested approximately US $ 600 million in the Bloor-Yorkville area with a portfolio that now includes 400,000 square feet of space spread across several properties. 

The transformation of the centre will continue throughout summer 2017.

Specialty apparel retailer Express is shutting down its Canadian subsidiary, Express Canada, as part of its strategic approach to improve profitability and manage and optimize its retail footprint. It announced on Thursday that it intends to shutter all 17 Canadian stores in Alberta, Ontario and British Columbia, and discontinue its Canadian operations beginning mid-May.

The reason being cited is failure of the Canadian subsidiary to meet expectations due to the challenging Canadian environment, coupled with unfavourable exchange rates.

Also Read – UNIQLO to open third store in Canada

“While difficult, this action is best for the future of Express and we are committed to carry it out in a way that reflects our respect and appreciation for employees who are impacted,” said David Kornberg, Express President and CEO, adding, “The decision to exit Canada is consistent with our long-term strategy and will have no impact on our operations in the US, which remain in a solid financial position.”
 
He further maintained that the company remains focused on growing e-commerce, building omni-channel capabilities and relaunching its customer loyalty programme.

In fiscal 2016, Express Canada contributed a US $ 6 million net loss for the company and posted net sales of US $ 34 million. The company also reported a 7 per cent decrease in full year net sales to US $ 2.2 billion.
 
E-commerce however performed well for the company, increasing by 5 per cent and accounting for 19 per cent of net sales, but this could not offset the decrease in comparable sales, which was driven by challenging mall traffic and retail promotions.

Not just another smart clothing equipped with any sensor or device, Canadian athletic apparel retailer Lululemon Athletica’s new ‘revolutionary’ sports bra – Enlite – leverages scientific thinking about bra design, including psychological research regarding how women want to feel in their sports bras.

The basic idea behind a sports bra is to minimize breast movement during exercise or any athletic activity. Keeping the same in mind, the sportswear retailer has launched the Enlite sports bra. Alexandra Plante, Innovation Product Manager, Lululemon Whitespace spearheaded the creation of the bra.

“The journey began more than two years ago when we started research and testing around how women want to feel in their sports bra. Breast movement during running is highly complex and can be characterized as three-dimensional, moving in multiple directions: up and down, side to side, and in and out. Our goal with the Enlite Bra was to create a product that could embrace movement by eliminating the elements of movement that cause discomfort, so the innovation here lies in the way we approached movement management,” said Plante.

The Enlite bra has encapsulated cups, no-budge straps and utilizes a new high performance fabric called Ultralu, which is touted for being lightweight and breathable. The company will continue to offer its current styles in the category, including the Fast & Free Bra, Free to Be Bra and the Energy Bra.

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The lightweight Spacer fabric used to create the Enlite Bra cups wraps around the natural curvature of the body, housing each breast separately as each breast is capable of moving in different ways and in different directions during physical activity. A unique combination of encapsulated cups, engineered to soften bounce is then applied to Enlite.

“When it came to Enlite, we threw out the rulebook on how bras are usually designed, and decided to start from the body by draping fabric onto a 3D form,” informed Plante.

RYU Apparel Inc., a tailored technical urban athletic apparel brand engaged in the development, marketing and distribution of apparels, has announced financial results for the first three months ended March 31, 2017.

During the period under review, revenue stood at US $ 467,003, 80 per cent higher than revenue of US $ 259,727 during the same period in 2016. Now into its second year of operations, the RYU team is encouraged with its sales record to date and a 47 per cent gross profit for the quarter. This is RYU’s seventh consecutive quarter of increasing gross profit.

First quarter gross profit totalled US $ 219,256 compared to US $ 134,994 in the same period last year, marking an increase of 62 per cent. Gross profit percentage of 47 per cent in the first quarter of 2017 was lower than gross profit of 52 per cent in 2016 because of the difference in the weighted average cost of finished goods inventory and the amount of sales discounts applied in each period.

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It presently has 16 per cent of revenue from e-commerce with a target of reaching 30 per cent by the end of this year.

RYU Apparel targets to have five retail stores open by the end of 2017. The company currently has three stores in operation and two under construction.

Luxury streetwear brand Off-White has opened its first North American brick-and-mortar flagship store in Toronto, Canada. This location serves as one of the two confirmed North American locations for the brand, the second one being New York scheduled for opening later this year.
 
Founded by Kanye West’s Creative Director Virgil Abloh, Off-White’s first Canadian standalone sprawls 2,400 square feet and is located in the upscale Yorkville Shopping District at 83 Yorkville Avenue, neighbouring luxury footwear and accessory brand Christian Louboutin and Chanel.

Also Read – UNIQLO to open third store in Canada

Dubbed as “Land”, the new store offers Off-White’s menswear and womenswear collections which include clothing, footwear, leather goods and accessories.

The streetwear brand currently runs nine stores globally, in Beijing, Hong Kong, London, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. Prior to the launch of its flagship in North America, the brand’s collection could be found at retail partners such as Holt Renfrew in Canada.