An assembly line of lifestyle brands

Pretty interesting article in WWD today about Ralph Lauren starting a venture called Global Brand Concepts that would develop proprietary fashion/lifestyle brands for specific retail clients — sort of like a private-label supplier in the grocery business, but for labels. Private label labels, I guess. One difference of course is that instead of being branded to the retailer, like Kroger brand coffee or whatever, the unique-to-store fashion/lifestyle brands would, in fact, have their own brand identities.

Hypothetically, a chain like Penney’s could contact Lauren about developing a new lifestyle collection. Global Brand Concepts would then enter a contract agreement with Penney’s, and Lauren and his team would develop the brand from scratch, a process that would include concept, design, sourcing the fabrics and contracting out production. Then the group would work on brand-building through advertising and marketing, all of which the retailer would finance.

It’s kind of an industrialization of branding; Global Brand Concepts would be an image factory as well as a product factory.

Also interesting:

If the lines proved successful enough to merit stand-alone stores, it would be up to the retailer to finance such an extension. Legally, however, Lauren would own the brand’s trademark since Polo Corp. would manufacture and ship the product as part of the arrangement.