Calvin Klein and Amazon have partnered on a holiday retail experience, running co-branded pop-up shops and an online store until 31 December.
The pop-ups are located in the New York City neighbourhood of SoHo and in Santa Monica in Los Angeles, and will include exclusive, Amazon-only underwear along with loungewear. Department stores, where Calvin Klein is traditionally sold, won’t receive the exclusive styles until January.
Visitors to the pop-ups will be able to purchase through the Amazon app and have their goods delivered, or pay in-store. Changing rooms will be fitted with Amazon Echo devices, which shoppers can use to ask Alexa questions, change the lighting, and play music. There is even the option to have your Calvin Klein items embroidered on the spot.
The Amazon Fashion online store will offer an expanded selection of underwear along with jeans.
”We are proud to collaborate with Amazon Fashion on this exciting retail concept,” said Cheryl Abel-Hodges, head of Calvin Klein Underwear and president, The Underwear Group of PVH, which owns Calvin Klein.
“It is our goal to deliver an immersive and content-driven shopping environment to the consumer, and we are thrilled to introduce this experience to Calvin Klein and Amazon shoppers, both online and offline, just in time for the holiday season.”
Fashion is one of the fastest growing categories on Amazon and a big focus for the company. Founder Jeff Bezos is on the record as saying that to achieve the goal of generating US$200 billion in annual sales Amazon has to “learn how to sell clothes and food”.
The online giant is working towards this goal. It has launched its own-brand fashion ranges and in 2016 registered the most apparel sales of any online retailer in the US for those aged 18-34.
However, many luxury fashion brands have been reluctant to tarnish their premium images by selling on the platform. Jean-Jacques Guiony, the chief financial officer at LMVH, which owns Dior, Celine, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton, among others, said last year that the company wouldn’t be working with Amazon in the near future.
“We believe the business of Amazon does not fit with LVMH, full stop, and it does not fit with our brands,” he said. “There is no way we can do business with them for the time being.”
Although Calvin Klein is seen as more accessible than LVMH’s high-end labels, if the pop-up partnership is a success it could pave the way for more fashion brands to embrace Amazon.
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