THE POWER OF NEW

With so much recent anxiety over tariffs, stock market swings, sourcing, deliveries, etc., pricing becomes more of an issue. Surely this is why upscale merchants are taking a closer look at opening priced luxury. While it’s admittedly tough to plan a season filled with economic uncertainty, here are two truly exceptional fall/winter ’25 collections that offer beautiful well-priced fashion that customers might not yet own. Oh, the power of new!

Atelier Munro: Luxury fabrics from top European mills (Loro Piana, Holland&Sherry, etc) are styled with just the right amount of contemporary flair. Tickets are opening price for luxury: formalwear jackets are $1200-$1300; trousers are $250. Cashmere fabrics can add another $500 to the ticket price.

Munro’s business is mostly custom, with a strong focus on training specialty store sellers how to measure. According to Daphne Venekamp, Munro’s VP Sales North America, custom is 70-75 percent of their business in luxury independent stores; ready-to-wear is 25-30 percent. Business worldwide is up 13 percent year to date, whereas U.S. business is up 16 percent. The U.S. contributes 20 percent to Munro’s worldwide volume.

“We’re offering a new comfort fit that our Midwest retailers are very happy about,” notes Daphne, who travels regularly to the stores. She greatly appreciates the camaraderie among retailers and brands in the U.S. “Vendors and retailers are sharing information and helping each other through this tariff uncertainty,” she observes. “It’s very nice!”

Eleventy: Geoff Schneiderman has been with Eleventy since its inception and is proud to be a major vendor in all doors of Harry Rosen, as well as a force in Nordstrom, Mitchells, and an ever-growing number of better specialty stores. “We started out in wholesale and that’s still our focus. We have nine Eleventy stores in the U.S. and one in Toronto, but we’re very careful with our distribution. Without the big advertising investments spent by the super-luxury brands, we’re in the right markets. Another fact that makes us proud: 90 percent of our first customers are still with us 10 years later.”

Eleventy’s fall/winter ’25 collection is artfully designed with both dress-up and dress-down components by Marco Baldassari and team in Milan. Sport coats and jackets, some taking 18 hours of handcraftsmanship, retail between $1495 and $4495. Hoodies and blazers in luxury fabrics are $1295-$3995. “Customers recognize the value in these pieces,” Geoff observes. “Our retailers tell us that we’re a refreshing option to the more expensive super-brands, especially in this era of uncertainty.”