David Jones has secured a number of deals with international designer brands following its attendance at Paris Fashion Week last week.
Valentino RTW, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Vince, Richard Nicolls and IRO will join the department store’s growing international designer offering on an exclusive basis.
According to David Jones CEO and managing director Paul Zahra, the company’s international women’s designer business has grown by 55.6 per cent over the three year period from FY11 to FY13.
"We attribute this growth in part to the fact that the web has given people instantaneous online access to the international fashion shows,” he said.
“This creates demand for brands locally before the brands even enter our business.
“As retailers, we need to adapt and tailor our offer to ensure we cater to this new generation of customer who is well informed about fashion, international designers and upcoming trends and has access to a plethora of information about fashion.”
The international brands will be available at the company’s flagship stores in Melbourne and Sydney (with 3.1 Phillip Lim only stocked in Melbourne and Richard Nicolls only stocked in Sydney) from February 2014 on a cost price harmonised basis.
"We will be stocking the Northern Hemisphere Spring Summer 2014 Collections next February and what will differentiate our offer from that of our international peers is our understanding of the Australian customer and our ability to edit or curate each collection to reflect our customers’ aesthetic and lifestyle as well as the Australian climate,” Zahra said.