NEW YORK, May 21, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sequential Brands Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:SQBG) ("Sequential" or the "Company") announced today the upcoming exclusive launch of William Rast at Lord & Taylor this Fall.
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The global fashion brand will launch its Fall 2014 collection with full concept shops featuring men's and women's sportswear, outerwear, and denim at all Lord & Taylor stores, including the Fifth Avenue Flagship, and on lordandtaylor.com beginning in mid-August.
A highlight of the new Fall collection is the introduction of a men's tailored line created through a partnership with Peerless Clothing.
William Rast Co-Founder and newly named Creative Director, Trace Ayala stated, "We have big plans for the launch of William Rast in the USA and are thrilled to be partnering with Lord & Taylor to deliver a new fresh collection to our core consumers." Ayala added, "When developing the Fall line, we wanted to add a tailored aspect of what we originally created and focus on bringing a sharp, sophisticated look to the brand."
Liz Rodbell, President of Hudson's Bay and Lord & Taylor stated, "William Rast has outperformed expectations in our Hudson's Bay stores since launching less than a year ago in Canada and we are thrilled to expand our partnership and bring this exclusive lifestyle brand to our U.S. clientele in all of our Lord & Taylor stores."
The new menswear collection features modern interpretations of what the Creative Director Trace Ayala and Design Director Marcella Lindeberg are calling "Rat Pack," with casual tailoring in the shape of semi constructed and deconstructed blazers and a sharp sophisticated attitude. Modern leather jackets, and a strong focus on woven shirts, from flannel plaids to utilitarian cottons round out the men's collection. The womenswear collection utilizes the soul of men's tailoring, and brings more female friendly and body conscious silhouettes. It delivers elements of couture style to the world of casual denim. With a focus on biker jackets, printed tops and immaculately fitted denim, the collection offers women a very confident and strong identity.
The upcoming launch of William Rast at Lord & Taylor stores throughout the United States follows a successful Fall 2013 rollout in Canada at The Bay and Spring 2014 debut in Europe across seven leading retailers. Additional categories including men's dress furnishings (dress shirts, ties and accessories), premium label denim, and men's bags, belts, and small leather goods will be available beginning Spring 2015.
"We are thrilled with the early success we have seen on the global roll out of William Rast," said Yehuda Shmidman, CEO of Sequential Brands Group. "With a strong team in place and strengthened commitment from the brand's co-founders and our global retail partners including Lord & Taylor, William Rast is well positioned for continued future growth," added Shmidman.
The brand's current licensing partners include: FDJ French Dressing, Inc., Peerless Clothing, PVH Corporation, Gold Medal, and RGA Leatherworks.
ABOUT WILLIAM RAST
The WILLIAM RAST brand was born in 2005 in Los Angeles, California, co-founded by Justin Timberlake and his life-long friend and business partner, Trace Ayala. William Rast is valued for delivering quality, fashion forward design and premium fit, and has become a staple for denim fans worldwide. Grounded in the iconography of American denim heritage and biker culture, yet re-packaged and presented in a contemporary context, WILLIAM RAST channels the renewed confidence and vision of people all over the world today. WILLIAM RAST combines the authentic qualities of American heritage with modern and sophisticated fits, fabrics, washes and techniques. www.williamrast.com
ABOUT LORD & TAYLOR:
Lord & Taylor is an upscale specialty department store that has built a reputation for attentive customer service and high-quality merchandise focused on apparel and accessories. Founded in 1826, Lord & Taylor is America's oldest department store and one of America's premier retailers. As part of the Hudson's Bay Company brand portfolio, Lord & Taylor operates 49 full-line stores in nine states and the District of Columbia, four Lord & Taylor outlet stores and lordandtaylor.com, the company's online store.
ABOUT SEQUENTIAL BRANDS GROUP, INC.
Sequential Brands Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:SQBG) owns, promotes, markets, and licenses a portfolio of consumer brands that presently includes William Rast®, People's Liberation®, DVS®, Heelys®, Caribbean Joe®, Ellen Tracy®, Revo® and The Franklin Mint®. Sequential seeks to ensure that its brands continue to thrive and grow by employing strong brand management, design and marketing teams. Sequential has licensed and intends to license its brands in a variety of consumer categories to retailers, wholesalers and distributors in the United States and in certain international territories. For more information, please visit Sequential's corporate website at: www.sequentialbrandsgroup.com. To inquire about licensing opportunities, please email: newbusiness@sbg-ny.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release and oral statements made from time to time by representatives of the Company are forward-looking statements ("forward-looking statements") that involve risks and uncertainties. For this purpose, any statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. When used in this press release and in documents referenced herein, forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding our expectations, beliefs or intentions that are signified by terminology such as "subject to," "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "intends," "estimates," "may," "will," "should," "can," the negatives thereof, variations thereon and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events, based on what the Company believes are reasonable assumptions; however, such statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors. Our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in any forward-looking statements due to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Refer to the section entitled "Risk Factors" set forth in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, as well as the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other SEC filings for a discussion of important risks, uncertainties and other factors that may affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. The Company's stockholders are urged to consider such risks, uncertainties and factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not, and should not be relied upon as, a guarantee of future performance or results, nor will they necessarily prove to be accurate indications of the times at or by which any such performance or results will be achieved. As a result, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. The Company is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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