The Best ofIntima & Swim Edit
Iceberg and Bikkembergs enter the North American market
21 September 2021
Following worldwide licensing agreements signed during the past year with Italian company Area B, Iceberg and Bikkembergs are launching their intimate apparel and beachwear collections in the US and Canada
In the pictures: Bikkembergs Underwear on the left; on the right, Karl Lagerfeld Beachwear
Founded in 1999 and now operating with headquarters measuring well over 13,000 sqft in the north-Italian city of Padua, Area B has consolidated its expertise in the beachwear and intimate apparel sectors, having established itself over the years on the dual-front of third-party production and licensing. In the latter field, the company has in recent years opened new international scenarios with high standing players in Europe. We met with CEO Federico Venturato to catch up on the company’s latest developments and see which paths it is taking.
As manufacturers, who are your main partners today?
As concerns intimate apparel, beachwear and activewear we produce for important fashion houses including Alviero Martini, Missoni, Max Mara, Jacob Cohen and Dondup. The main production phases take place in Italy with the support of selected establishments in the Euro-Mediterranean zone, China, India and Bangladesh. We offer clients a 360-degree service: merchandise planning, textiles sourcing, graphic and styling solutions, so as to allow brands to focus totally on the design aspect. Our assortment of approximately 600 styles for men and women which we can draw from for the realization of fashion sketches is one of our strong points and an element which distinguishes us.
What brands figure in your portfolio of licenses? How would you evaluate your activity to date and what’s new for 2021?
Currently our licensing portfolio includes men’s and women’s collections for Karl Lagerfeld Beachwear, Iceberg Beachwear and Underwear, and Gas Beachwear and Underwear. To these in 2021 we added North Sails Underwear and Aeronautica Militare Underwear for men, (exclusive distributor agreement), as well as new entries Bikkembergs Beachwear and Underwear. As regards our established licenses, our balance is more than positive: we have grown a lot within each individual license itself, registering a +300% on SS2020 versus SS2019, +40% SS2021 versus SS2020 for Karl Lagerfeld Beachwear, and +40% on the plan for Iceberg Beachwear, a license we acquired as from SS2021. As concerns newly acquired licenses, we have interesting prospects for Bikkembergs: alongside, men’s underwear, beachwear, loungewear and socks we plan to launch the women’s category with a beachwear capsule collection.
What is the operational strategy for the expansion of your brands under license at an international level?
Our strategic licensing approach with brands aims to introduce and establish the beachwear and/or underwear categories of our partner brands through a specialized distribution network in line with the brand’s image and positioning. On the basis of our licensing agreements we focus on the areas in which the brand enjoys the greatest notoriety and sales: the licenses for Iceberg and Bikkembergs are worldwide (excluding China for Bikkembergs), Karl Lagerfeld and North Sails licenses cover the EMEA area (and Russia for Karl Lagerfeld), while those for Aeronautica Militare and Gas cover the European market. In line with our partner brand’s positioning, we team up with selected distributors on the territory, both for Europe and outside Europe.
Which markets have navigated best over the past year?
You’ll be surprised… In some markets we even registered a growth. These include France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Poland, Russia and Spain.
And which markets do you expect to be more receptive to your product in future?
Without a doubt US, Japan and Korea: These are markets in which we are implementing targeted strategies for the Iceberg and Bikkembergs brands with worldwide licensing.
How are you structuring your distribution of the Iceberg and Bikkembergs collections in North America?
As regards Iceberg Beachwear, which has been distributed in the US as from the SS2021 collection, we rely on a selected local agent who started working with us as from the previous season. As concerns Bikkembergs, we are negotiating with a local distributor.
What types of retailers are you focusing on for these two brands in the US and Canada?
Iceberg Beachwear SS 2021 is already distributed in ready to wear stores carrying a significant offer of intimate apparel and beachwear by other brands in line with the Iceberg DNA. For SS2022 we will be focusing on stores specializing in intimate apparel and beachwear as well as department stores and ready to wear stores offering intimate apparel and beachwear.
What about the Caribbean and South America? Will the two collections be entering these areas as well?
Yes, these are areas we are working on. In these territories as well, we rely on selected local distributors for stores specializing in intimate apparel and beachwear and ready to wear stores carrying intimates and swimwear. We believe both areas will provide a good development opportunity for the two brands.
How has Area B taken on the sustainability challenge in recent years?
We have an in-house R&D office specializing in sustainability and environmental issues. We have always been oriented towards the creation of low impact products, combining the performance of standard fabrics with the added value of ethical and environmental solutions, we use high-quality polyesters recycled from post-consumer plastic bottles, nylon regenerated from waste recovered from the sea, and certified organic cottons. We apply this philosophy also to the licenses: the 2021 di North Sails Intimates collection is entirely made out of organic cotton and bamboo and the packaging, just like for the 2021 Iceberg Intimates collection, is made of recycled materials. In beachwear, the 2022 Karl Lagerfeld collection will include some green-oriented pieces.
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