party report

Thom Browne Not Doing Lower-Priced Lines, Avoids Falling to the Hoi Polloi

Is Thom Browne going low-rent? No way, he told us at Barneys on Fashion’s Night Out. Contrary to a report in WWD, he is not, in fact, introducing lower-priced lines. Instead, he’s simply expanding his main collection to include more sporty, casual pieces. Spring customers will see “everything that they’ve seen and more,” Browne said. “There will be different types of items, softer construction, easier, more sportswear-like pieces.” But while Browne insists that the new pieces are “not diffusion — not at all,” an August 27 press release from the company did state that the new “categories” will be priced 30 to 40 percent lower than the “runway” merchandise. And in July, the firm’s newly installed CEO vowed to reduce prices. The official line? The designer’s rep said that the plan for spring was “misinterpreted in the [WWD] article.”

Thom Browne Not Doing Lower-Priced Lines, Avoids Falling to the Hoi Polloi