Colin Dyne, chief executive officer of William Rast, said despite the recession, the brand is growing at retail and women’s wear has become an overall larger portion of the business. The brand sells in major department stores, including Bloomingdale’s, 500 specialty stores, such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom, and 180 stores throughout Europe. Nordstrom in particular, Timberlake said, has been an ideal partner. Anita Ortiz, national merchandise manager for Nordstrom Savvy and Individualist departments, said the brand has been selling well.

“William Rast has continued to attract our customers’ interest because it has evolved into a full collection that offers a juxtaposition of feminine and masculine styling,” she said. “The customer can build her wardrobe within the brand with their denim jeans and their feminine jackets.”

Although the spring line has just hit the sales floor, Ortiz said it is already doing robust business.

“I love William Rast’s spring line because they built on what they do well: boy meets girl with a sexy edge,” she said. “And for the spring season, they injected the line with new silhouettes like the boyfriend short and oversize silk boyfriend blouses.”

And, even as many brands are looking to cut back, William Rast has big plans as they move forward. There will be a women’s shoe line launching for spring (produced in-house, not through a licensing agreement) and while Dyne wouldn’t divulge the details, they are working on a plan to open William Rast stores. In addition, there’s a new marketing campaign in the works for fall and a plan to work with retailers on a more personal level.

“In this economy, it’s so important for us to support our specialty stores,” Dyne said. “The more we can do to promote our brand can only help their businesses.”

To take promoting the brand a step further, Johan Lindeberg has signed on to be Timberlake’s stylist. He’s creating everything for him—from the tuxedo he wore to this week’s Grammy Awards to a suit for when Timberlake hosts the Costume Institute gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in May. A sampling of Timberlake’s made-to-measure outfits will be showcased on the runway next week, and Lindeberg said he hopes to eventually offer them for wholesale, but only to a select few stores.

“He’s going to wear only William Rast from here on out,” Lindeberg said. “For me, it has been great to work with him on his style and infuse that into William Rast.”

Timberlake expressed his excitement about what’s to come from the brand.

“I feel like when the four of us are all together, William Rast is like the coolest new band that people are just starting to talk about,” he said. “We just haven’t made it big-time yet, but we will—we are just coming up.”

For a slideshow of William Rast images, clck here (WWD subscription required).