.AdamLippes gave WWD an inside look at his new collection.
The days leading up to New York Fashion Week are typically a hotbed of activity in studios across New York, designers refining their clothes and distilling the range down to that perfect runway message.
Lippes shares the story when back in New York on Tuesday, by way of explaining why he had to delay our conversation for a day. We talk over lunch in his temporary office, a large, open space on lower Broadway. A hefty elevator ride up to the 42nd floor, the brand’s new permanent offices are under construction.
Nor does it suggest that the clothes don’t resonate in New York. Bergdorf Goodman does a brisk business, and Linda Fargo, the store’s senior vice president of fashion and store presentation, calls herself a fan and a client. “Adam’s collections embody the best of what American sportswear can be right now. [He] checks all the right and various boxes,” she says, citing a sense of ease while being “well-dressed”; unfussy femininity; luxury’s “new tier” pricing that’s not outrageous.
“I was first attracted to the man,” Courtney Sarofim says. “He is a force, he has this wonderful laser-sharp intellect and wit and he just had a great spirit, which made me really want to dig into the clothes and start buying them and wearing them.” When she did, she fell in love there, too. “I love the fabrics that he uses, and the designs are not fussy. They are very easy to wear, but you feel draped in luxury.
The business should hit $20 million this year. Last year, it increased 24 percent in what Lippes calls “a really hard market.” The U.S. accounts for 90 percent, with the U.K., South Korea, Japan and the Middle East making up the remainder. That’s down from 2013, when Lippes launched with 30 percent internationally, a level that proved complicated to manage. Discerning which small stores were good — and in some cases, collecting payments — “became an uphill battle.
In fact, were he launching today rather than in 2013, Lippes would take a different approach than his current wholesale model and launch with one or two key retail partners “for their gravitas,” at almost no margin, and sell the rest direct for a wholesale margin. “To me, it’s how can I get luxury product out there at a more accessible price?”
His youthful resolve tempered by the cool hand of practicality, Lippes returned home, graduated from Cornell and set out to forge his fashion future in New York. First stop: Ralph Lauren and Rhinelander. He started as a sales associate at Lauren’s flagship and was quickly discovered by Electra Preston, who managed Lauren’s Madison Avenue and East Hampton stores. She brought him on as her assistant. When Preston decamped to Oscar de la Renta, Lippes went with her.
The business grew fast, experiencing a heady boom until “it all just came crashing down after the recession.” Richemont wanted out. It shut down several small brands it had acquired but sold the Lippes brand to Kellwood. Although the business got back on track, it wasn’t a happy experience as Lippes was dissatisfied with the quality. The last straw came via a deal with HSN. “You’re going to be great, you’re going to kill it on HSN,” he was told.
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