J. Press York Street Expands, Ends Ovadia Partnership

J. Press York Street, the younger offshoot of the classic preppy J. Press brand that launched in 2012, has ended its partnership with the Ovadia brothers and will expand into Japan and other markets.

Designers Ariel and Shimon Ovadia helped launch the J. Press York Street brand and designed the collection for four seasons. A J. Press York Street store opened on Bleecker Street in New York’s Greenwich Village in early 2013.

“Our goal when we launched J. Press York Street was to find designers with the expertise and vision that could guide the establishment of the collection—looking back over the past four seasons, we couldn’t have asked for better partners than Ariel and Shimon,” said J. Press CEO Yuki Okita in a statement. “Ariel and Shimon were the perfect designers to help us establish the style, fit and attitude of the brand. For that we are extremely grateful. As we expand into Japan and beyond, we are encouraged by the in-house team that we have established over the past two years and we look forward to taking J. Press York Street to new places.”

J. Press, which has been owned by its Japanese licensee Onward Kashiyama since 1986, will consolidate its New York and Tokyo design teams to create a unified global J. Press York Street collection.

J. Press was founded on the grounds of Yale University in New Haven, Conn. in 1902. It operates stores in New Haven, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Japan. The New York City J. Press flagship closed in January. The company said it was searching for a new location.