Ash: from shoes to ready-to-wear with Kevork Kiledjian

By

Anaïs Lerévérend

Published
Nov 6, 2014

Ash is once again looking to change shape. The shoewear brand founded in 2000 by Italian Leonella Calvani and Frenchman Patrick Ithier has seen rapid development in Europe, North America and Asia, but also from a product point of view.

After shoes for women, men and children, and leather goods since 2013, Ash is launching a ready-to-wear women's line for spring/summer 2015 and thinking big.

The first ready-to-wear collection was entrusted to designer Kevork Kiledjian, passing from streetwear to luxury, with the creation of the Guilty Brotherhood brand followed by its eponymous line. A line that walked down the runway and which is currently on hold, allowing the designer to completely dedicate himself to the "Ash Studio Paris" project, the shoemaker's ready-to-wear code name.

There are more than a hundred articles in the first collection; which offers a complete wardrobe: "lots of very feminine dresses," says the creator, "but also denim, sweats, shirts... in short, everything that makes up a realistic urban wardrobe," he adds. "As a matter of personal taste but also to ensure continuity with the brand's shoes and leather goods offer, leather is very present in the collection."

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"Finally, Ash and I are of fairly the same mind, both agreeing that style asserts itself naturally: street, luxury and rock," explains Kevork Kiledjian. Luxury, to the eye that will be felt in the pocket. Like the brand's shoes, the clothing line is positioned in the med- to high-end range. Some of the prices, for example: 45 euros for a t-shirt, 130 for a pair of jeans, 150 to 200 euros for a knitwear piece, and up to 850 euros for the most expensive leather jacket.

Although everything is not yet 100% complete, Ash Studio Paris should benefit as of its first season from 150 multi-brand retailers in some fifteen countries, not to mention corners in its biggest single-brand stores as of 2015. This normally won't be the case for Paris, in the flagship on Rue du Marché Saint-Honoré, having been deemed too small to welcome the collection. 

Ash has some fifty of its own stores around the world and relies on major distributors in countries like the United States and China, which is actually currently undergoing accelerated development, with some fifty stores scheduled to open in the coming months.