Anne Klein, We Hardly Knew Ya

I was gutted to read that Jones Apparel Group has pulled the plug on the top-tier Anne Klein collection and fired creative director Isabel Toledo. Resort, due in stores next month will be the last of Toledo's collections. Spring, which I loved, will never see the light of day. Anne Klein was my favorite show of last season and my favorite creative director/brand pairing. And I wasn't the only one. Here's a video where I interviewed some key audience members at the last show.

But I did wonder if it was too good to be true. The strategy seemed strange -- Toledo's collection sold at Barney's, but not at the Anne Klein stores across the way. WWD provides some background:

The "designer tier" idea was conceived by Peter Boneparth, Jones' then president and ceo, and Lynn Cote, then ceo of wholesale sportswear, suits and dresses. The duo departed last summer and were replaced in essence by Card and Susan Metzger, ceo of women's better sportswear. The new regime was left having to grapple with a costly designer venture that hadn't proven itself at retail at a time when Jones had to make tough decisions about its own future.

The blogs are taking this as a direct diss towards Toledo, but I don't agree. The new managers at Jones have basically decided what every other U.S. brand has -- the strength of the American market is in the middle. I am sure Jones will be sad to see Toledo, and all the buzz she brought, go. I'm sad because it was a great opportunity for a legendary American brand to reestablish itself with full designer credentials. Now we'll have to look to Peter Som at Bill Blass to take on that task. But not only do I find it sad, I also think it was a bad business decision for Jones. Yes, the designer line was expensive. But if they looked at it as press and P.R. cost instead of pure sales, it might have made more sense. Good luck getting those Vogue features now. And with the exchange rate the way it is, it is likely that sales would have picked up globally -- as is happening with Bill Blass since the arrival of Peter Som.

Oh well. Toledo will be consulting until the end of her contract -- said to be next year -- so for all those brands looking for a new designer, you now know who to call.