SEX AND SUBURBIA
New- look Frederick’sFrederick s bets on Middle America The Authentic Brands reboot by Jamie Salter ( inset) could fill shelves and hangers of suburban stores with products that harken to the roots of the lingerie mainstay.
Is Middle America ready for fishnet body stockings and lace garter sets?
The new owner of Frederick’s of Hollywood seems to think so.
Jamie Salter’s Authentic Brands plans to take the twice bankrupt lingerie brand — which veered toward the racier end of the market in the face of competition from Victoria’s Secret — more mainstream with the help of a retail partner, expansion into department stores and regular fashion shows.
Authentic, which owns celebrity brands like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley as well as women’s fashion brands such as Jones New York and Juicy Couture, will announce it has closed on the $ 22.5 million acquisition this week, including Frederick’s trademarks, ecommerce site and inventories.
Frederick’s went bust for the second time in April after closing its 94 stores across the country, succumbing to “mismanagement over the past decade,” Salter told The Post in April, when he submitted a bid to buy the 69yearold company. “It’s an incredible iconic brand that appeals to Middle America and now needs a lot of TLC.”
His plan for reviving Frederick’s, according to a source familiar with his thinking, involves a retail and wholesale partner — a deal is in the works — and models strutting at fashion shows as well as fresh content on Frederick’s Web site.
Previously, the skimpy lingerie could only be bought in its own stores and online. Salter said in April that he could see reopening some stores as well as selling the sexy bras and panties in department stores.
Frederick’s, which racked up $ 106 million in debt, was most recently owned by the Harbinger Group, Phil Falcone’s private equity firm.
Despite founder Frederick Mellinger’s motto that “sex never goes out of style,” the retailer couldn’t keep up with nubile rivals even as it turned up the heat — at one point, expanding into sex toys.
Founded by Mellinger in the post World War II pinup girl era, Frederick’s was the biggest player in the $ 13 billion lingerie business for decades until Victoria’s Secret arrived on the scene in the 1980s. Its younger rival steadily stripped away Frederick’s market share with its aggressive expansion into malls and alignment with famous models to serve as its sexy ambassador angels.
But Mellinger, who died in 1990, was a trailblazer, launching the first padded bra in 1947 and a year later the first pushup bra, called “Rising Star.” He’s also credited with introducing the first thong four decades later.
His brash style and the fact that Frederick’s products were seen as synonymous with sex attracted celebrities like Madonna, who wore a Frederick’s bustier in concerts, and Pamela Anderson, whowas a Frederick’s model before landing her role in “Baywatch.”
“Frederick’s was always seen as sexier than Victoria’s Secret, but its image is from the old school, it’s downscale,” said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners. “Maybe it can get a new lease on life with its newowners.”