Amazon has been pushing aggressively into the fashion, jewelry, and accessories categories since 2012.
In affordable fine jewelry, Amazon has morphed into a formidable player. In March they were not stocking Irene Neuwirth and David Webb, or even more affordable sought-after brands such as Mejuri or AUrate.
It now seems brands of that ilk will be erecting permanent homes on America’s biggest retail platform in short order.
WWD reported that Amazon will be debuting a luxury brand platform later this month, with the first of 12 accessories and ready-to-wear labels opening shops on the site “as fashion show season kicks off in September.”
A sprawling warehouse is being built in Arizona to accommodate the new platform, which will roll out with a $100 million marketing campaign.
The 12 brands haven’t yet been identified, but they will reportedly be top-tier, and each will have complete control over the look and feel of its Amazon shop. They will also operate their own concessions on the site “with a business model that’s more similar to the Farfetch marketplace than Net-a-Porter or Matchesfashion,” reports the outlet. Meaning, Amazon will be more a conduit for sales than a direct seller.
Beyond exposure to Amazon’s unfathomably large audience, perks for participating brands include access to centralized warehousing and Amazon’s huge delivery network.
The platform will be launched in the United States, WWD reports, and “Dany Keirouz, head of brands relations and development at Amazon Fashion, is understood to be heading up the project, according to a market source.”
Amazon temporarily retailed several buzzy designer fashion brands earlier this year as part of the Common Threads/Amazon Fashion project, which was created to bolster fashion sales during the pandemic (Anna Sui, Thakoon, Tabitha Simmons, Derek Lam, and Batsheva participated).
The outlet writes that the 12 brands about to debut are “understood to be more high end” than those.
