Ba&sh opens first US stores in Miami, New York

Parisian womenswear retailer Ba&sh, now that L Capital, the investment fund backed by the Arnault and LVMH groups, has acquired a stake in the label, has the resources to fuel its ambitious plans.

The forecast for its 2017 revenue is €115 million, up approximately 20%, and the label's internationalisation drive is going ahead at full speed. Ba&sh wants to grow the share of its business generated by exports, currently about one third, and almost exclusively coming from Europe, and has launched into two new regions at once: Asia and the USA.

Earlier this year, Ba&sh launched its Asian offensive, and now the accessible luxury label is turning to the USA. Its first foray in the country dates back to 2016, when Ba&sh opened about ten retail corners at Neiman Marcus. Now it is shifting to a higher gear, by opening its own monobrand stores.

The first was inaugurated in early September in Miami, in a high-end, sophisticated shopping area within the Miami Design District. A clear signal that the label seeks a premium positioning, as the store is located next door to Dior and Hermès.

The Miami opening was quickly followed by a second one in downtown New York, at 403 Bleecker Street. Fitting snugly with the typical post-industrial look of certain New York buildings, the store will not remain Ba&sh's only one in the Big Apple for long, as the label has already found a second location, where it is due to open by the end of the year, on Madison Avenue, in the Upper East Side.

Again by the end of the year, Ba&sh is set to ink a deal for a store in Los Angeles. Its approach will be to open new directly owned stores at a judicious rate, putting the emphasis on deploying an omni-channel strategy in the USA.

Ba&sh plans to boost its department store presence in 2018, as well as its e-tail footprint, with a US-specific website to be revamped for the first quarter 2018, and it also targets directional multibrand retailers. To do so, the label has recently exhibited at trade shows Coterie in New York and LA Fashion Market in Los Angeles, seeking to engage the country's premium retailers.

"Our US offensive is also supported by strong marketing investment," said Pierre-Arnaud Grenade, the label's General Manager. "We are working with a celebrities' agency, among others, in order to gain visibility quickly in a country with such significant global appeal," he added.

Ba&sh's US expansion is spearheaded by a former-The Kooples director, Sarah Benady, who was appointed head of the retailer's new North American subsidiary at the start of 2017, as previously reported on FashionNetwork Premium.

Ba&sh opens first US stores in Miami, New York

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