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Nov 19 2007 8:53AM EST

NexCen And Camuto Buy Shoe Box

NexCen, the owners of Bill Blass and the Athlete's foot, have bought the Shoe Box, a chain of New York retail stores. Shoe Box only has nine stores, but it is a fairly rare example of a multi-brand high end shoe store. It sells Jimmy Choo, Giuseppe Zanotti, and Chloe. NexCen plans to take the concept global, with 500 franchised stores all over the world. The company C.E.O. Robert D'Loren said, "Financially it isn't a big commitment. . . Strategically, it's a big step for us."

I spent much of Friday with D'Loren working on a separate story that will appear in the next FT Business of Fashion supplement. I am fascinated with NexCen because it is the first example we have had in a long time of someone trying to tinker with the tried and true role model of luxury management that Tom Ford and Domenico De Sole made so popular at Gucci Group. Namely, control, control, control. Gucci and most luxury brands want to own as much of the process as they can from the factories to the stores. D'Loren is doing the opposite. He owns nothing but the brands and uses licenses and franchisees in a way that has fallen out of flavor after the 1970s and 1980s when brands ended up tarnished by bad deals and poorly run stores.

But D'Loren argues that just because his Shoe Box stores will be run by franchisees, doesn't mean he won't control them. The redesign will be done by his team and they will also dictate the product mix. What's going to take up much of the shelf space at Shoe Box in years to come? Bill Blass shoes. That's where Camuto comes in. They make shoes for the likes of Camuto Group's brand roster that includes Jessica Simpson, Arturo Chiang, BCBG Max Azria, Nicole Miller and now Bill Blass. Under D'Loren's plan, it will be Camuto that is responsible for the sales of Blass shoes to Shoe Box and other retailers. The design will be done under the direction of Peter Som.

D'Loren has more acquisitions on the way -- he told me there will likely be two before the year is out. So, watch this space.


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