Last Thursday night, hundreds of shrieking girls mobbed the fifth floor of Saks Fifth Avenue's flagship store in New York and snapped pictures of pop star Justin Timberlake, there to show off his new fashion line.If only his clothes were as popular as he is.
Mr. Timberlake, 28, is co-founder of a fashion brand called William Rast. The brand started in 2005 as a premium denim line, but the process of expanding it into a "lifestyle" collection with dresses, outerwear and other apparel has proceeded more slowly than expected. The company didn't hit its first-year sales targets until its second year in business.
"Being a celebrity gets your foot in the door, but once you are there, people go, 'OK, now what?' " Mr. Timberlake says.
The struggles of William Rast, which didn't show in the New York Fashion Week tents this week, are a sign of the times. The downturn in high-end fashion is hitting celebrity-backed brands hard. Many are disappearing. U.S. sales of celebrity-licensed products fell to $2.9 billion last year after peaking in 2006 at $3.5 billion, according to the Licensing Letter, a trade publication.
The result is a growing graveyard of celebrity brands. Jennifer Lopez's six-year-old Sweetface line was shuttered this summer, a casualty of the economy, a spokeswoman for the singer says. Reality-television star Lauren Conrad closed her upscale collection in March after just a couple of seasons. Other celebrities no longer appearing on clothing tags include reality star Heidi Montag, pop singer Mandy Moore and Nicky Hilton, Paris's sister.
André Benjamin, one half of the rap duo OutKast, unveiled his Benjamin Bixby menswear line with a big party at Barneys New York during fashion week last year. Now, Barneys no longer stocks the line. A representative for Mr. Benjamin didn't return calls seeking comment.
Ms. Conrad later announced a deal with Kohl's Corp. for a more affordable collection, which launches next month; a publicist says Ms. Conrad put the upscale line "on hold" to focus on Kohl's and plans to relaunch it next year. A publicist for Ms. Montag says the Heidiwood collection "was intended to be a one-year deal" and that Ms. Montag is still interested in the fashion industry. Representatives for Ms. Hilton and Ms. Moore didn't return calls seeking comment.
"Every D-level celebrity who thought they could make a quick buck by designing a handbag or whatever is going to disappear," says Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour. "And I think that's a good thing."
Celebrity branding isn't a new phenomenon. But the rise of magazines and blogs that track celebrities' every move has given people like Mr. Timberlake, named GQ magazine's best-dressed man this year, more clout in influencing mainstream fashion trends than some designers. The growth of celebrity lines has also been fueled by department stores' demand for unique products amid growing competition from specialty stores and cheap-chic chains like Zara and H&M. Star lines have been a fast way for retailers to generate buzz.But not every celebrity brand is ready for the growing competition. "Regardless of the personality behind the label, the product must be on trend to be successful," says Ron Frasch, president of Saks Fifth Avenue. Shanice Rogers, a 21-year-old Timberlake fan from Neptune, N.J., says, "I first had an issue with celebrity brands because everyone was doing it." Still, she has a hat and T-shirt by William Rast: "I like the style," she says.
Mr. Frasch cites L.A.M.B., a five-year-old brand designed by the platinum-haired singer Gwen Stefani, as one of the few celebrity labels that the retailer carries. Ms. Stefani, who presented her spring 2010 collection last Thursday, says that instead of creating an eponymous line, she intentionally called the label L.A.M.B., which stands for "Love, Angel, Music, Baby," the title of one of her albums. "I always envisioned it being something that would be able to stand on its own four legs," she says.
Mr. Timberlake is one of the most successful entertainers in the world, with six Grammy awards and two Emmys. Yet getting taken seriously in the fashion industry has been harder than he anticipated. "If you want something to stick around, it's going to take a while," says Mr. Timberlake, who has a 50% stake in William Rast. The company, co-founded with Mr. Timberlake's childhood friend Trace Ayala, is named after the two men's grandfathers, William Bomar and John Rast.
William Rast was launched at Bloomingdale's as a premium denim line; the jeans quickly got picked up by other upscale retailers, including Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. In 2006, Mr. Timberlake and Mr. Ayala unveiled a full lifestyle collection at Los Angeles Fashion Week, featuring styles such as leather vests for men and sweater dresses for women, followed by a performance by Mr. Timberlake.Loretta Soffe, general merchandise manager for women's apparel at Nordstrom, says the various styles "weren't well integrated." Nordstrom bought the jeans but passed on the rest.
"Our biggest misstep was that we wanted to do it all," Mr. Timberlake says. Colin Dyne, chief executive of People's Liberation Inc., which owns William Rast, says he cringes when he thinks of that first collection.
Mr. Timberlake and Mr. Ayala overhauled their business in mid-2007, shaking up management and narrowing the scope of their line. They lowered prices by 10% to 15%. Jeans, which previously started at $180, now start at $165. The two also hired design duo Johan and Marcella Lindeberg, of the J. Lindeberg brand, to help school them in fashion design. The company spent $1.4 million for the Lindebergs' design services last year.
Ms. Soffe says that after the new designers came in, the look of the collection improved significantly. Nordstrom began carrying William Rast's sportswear as well as its denim last year.
Mr. Timberlake, who was at first cautious about being too closely associated with the brand, has taken a more active role. He was the face of William Rast in its most recent ad campaign. He has also gotten more involved in designing. On seeing a woman's motorcycle-jacket sample for spring 2010, he suggested altering it to lace up all along the sleeves, instead of just around the cuffs.
Mr. Dyne declines to give sales figures for the label but says that after sinking $5 million into it, he expects it to be profitable for the first time this year.
Owing largely to its high-profile founder, William Rast has been a hot ticket at New York Fashion Week for the past two seasons. Its collections, featuring Southern-inspired looks like fringed and studded leather jackets, generated positive reviews. In the current economic climate, however, the founders chose to skip a splashy fashion show. Instead, they threw parties at stores in London, Berlin and Paris, followed by a presentation at Saks in honor of "Fashion's Night Out." Next season, William Rast will be back on the fashion calendar, the founders say. The company has signed leases on three retail locations and is planning to open 40 William Rast boutiques in the next few years, Mr. Dyne says.
"I don't want to build a clothing brand where people will see it and go, 'I am going to wear this because Justin Timberlake says I should wear it,' " says Mr. Timberlake. "We are looking to build something we believe in."
Beth Grande, a 28-year-old university employee in San Francisco, recently bought a pair of William Rast jeans when she saw they were being offered at a 50% discount on Hautelook.com, an online retailer. "I usually don't like celebrity brands…but these jeans fit so well and were so cute, I made an exception," says Ms. Grande. "I find that many people to whom I mention William Rast don't even know that Justin Timberlake is associated with the brand, which I like. "
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