Reed Krakoff is suspending design and production of his company and closing his Madison Avenue boutique, accounting to WWD. The uptown store will only be open for a few more weeks but the Soho store, the website and Woodbury outlet will continue operations.
Today’s announcement comes as a big surprise as Madison Avenue sales associates were unpacking new spring shipments just last week. The store still had two sections of winter clothing that were all reduced 75% off and a small assortment of bags were 60% off. You can see pictures from our shopping trip last week right here.
If you pop over to the Reed Krakoff website, you will see lots of the clothing reduced 70% off and shoes and handbags are about 60% off. (A bit more pricey than the boutique but the selection is larger.) This circle lace dress is $650 from $2100 and a sweater with leather stripe sleeves is $327 from $1090. Among the bags selection is a classic Boxer for $645 from $1290 and a Soft Atlantique in anaconda and leather skin is $2495 from $4290.
Reed Krakoff will continue to run the company with a skeletal staff until additional investment is found or an alternate plan is made. Management is considering refocusing the company on the “accessible luxury segment of the accessories market,” according to a statement given to Fashionista.
Reed Krakoff was the creative director of Coach for 16 years and started his eponymous label in 2010. The designer left Coach and purchased the brand with and investor group for an undisclosed sum of money. We suspect that the separation from Coach in 2014 made production costs skyrocket, which would have shaved profit margins remarkably.
Reed Krakoff is a master of cut, scale and texture and we hate to see the quality of his designs diluted for mass production. Krakoff is down but not out, for now.
