Express x Negin Mirsalehi Collection Debuts Online
The collection is part of the retailer’s plans to update the assortment — and boost sales.
Express Inc. is editing its closet.
And it’s starting by adding pieces co-designed by influencer Negin Mirsalehi.
The Express x Negin Mirsalehi collection lands on express.com and select stores on Thursday, making good on chief executive officer Timothy Baxter’s promise last month to update the style assortment — and hopefully boost sales.
“This is 100 percent part of that effort,” Patrice Croci, vice president of brand and performance marketing at Express, told WWD. “Not only with our own designs and our own aesthetic, but also leveraging influencers, fashion stylists, celebrities, faces of the brand to also help design collections.”
Baxter told analysts during last month’s conference call that Express — after a disappointing quarter where both top and bottom lines fell — would be making adjusts to the product line.
“We’ve had too much depth in older key items and not enough breadth in style diversity,” Baxter said.
Shares of the specialty apparel and accessories retailer are down about 80 percent year-over-year. And while the stock surged momentarily after last month’s quarterly earnings report, the company has been struggling to improve sales. (Shares of the firm closed down 2.5 percent to $1.99 Wednesday.)
Baxter promised new colors, fabrics, prints and silhouettes.
The Mirsalehi collection consists of about 50 pieces, including faux leather looks, a snakeskin pencil skirt, boyfriend blazer, sweetheart neck sweater and wide-leg jumpsuits.
“It’s bold prints, exotic patterns and timeless silhouettes from Negin’s point of view,” Croci said. “It can be mixed and matched. It can be dressed up. It can be dressed down. It’s really versatile.”
The collection also marks
Mirsalehi’s first co-designed collection.
“I was really happy about the freedom