Bravado Designs, a Canadian-based maternity and nursing intimates brand, recently partnered with Easton International, a US distributor of intimates. This partnership signals another milestone following the company’s significant rebrand mid-last year, 30 years after its inception in 1992. The brand’s recent transformation encompasses a vibrant overhaul of its visual identity, including updates to its color palette, logo design, photographic style, and two innovative products: the Intrigue Balconette and the Tranquil Maternity and Nursing Sports Bra.
The Intrigue Balconette departs from conventional nursing bras, offering a fusion of elegance and functionality tailored to the modern mother’s discerning tastes. Meanwhile, the Tranquil Maternity and Nursing Low Impact Sports Bra fills a long-standing void in the market, providing active mothers with a comfortable and supportive option for their fitness endeavors.
Since September’s rebrand, the company has also launched a Diaper Backpack, Hospital Tote, Loungewear, and, in the past month, a sustainably made Maternity Collection and a Swimwear Collection. These product launches and the brand’s change and evolution in the past year show its desire to stay relevant and viable as a significant player in the intimates category.
The Easton International Partnership
This new partnership with Easton International is notable for the brand, indicating a significant growth opportunity in the US market. Although the company has sold products in major retailers like Nordstrom and Kohls, there are many regional wholesalers in the US that the brand has yet to penetrate, and it hopes this partnership will help facilitate that distribution.
“We’ve got a great presence in the US, but signing Easton was about elevating that. Saying, okay, where do we want to compete, where do we want to be in North America, where will we have the highest brand awareness and the biggest growth opportunity,” stated Nicole McCasey, President of Bravado Designs. The company had previously relied on one person based in its Toronto office to manage the partnerships across the US and Canada. Therefore, the bandwidth didn’t exist to grow the brand’s US presence.
The partnership has already taken off over the past month, with Easton bringing in four new accounts for the brand at a recent trade show. This collaboration signals a bold step forward for Bravado Designs as it seeks to expand its footprint across the United States. With a growth target of 24% for the year, Bravado Designs aims to use the Easton partnership to propel its overall business to 80% within North America, up from the low 70s in the years prior.
“We plan to introduce the Bravado brand to all our lingerie, specialty, and department stores where the brand is not currently offered. This will expand the reach of Bravado in the USA. In addition, we will manage the existing USA Bravado retailers with more direct contact, product knowledge, in-store seminars, inventory management, and social media support,” shared Russell J. Klein, President of Easton International, Inc., adding, “Easton’s focus will be on the retailers that currently do not carry nursing and maternity bras, maternity loungewear or accessories. The addition of the Bravado brand to their assortments is essential in managing the complete needs of their customers throughout all stages of their life.
Easton has been a long-time distributor of famed intimates brands. Historically, it has helped brands like Wolford and Abade. It now works with several intimates brands, including Gossard and Contourelle. Bravado is, therefore, one of many brands in the industry that use a third-party distributor to help grow its brand. And far from the first to rely on wholesale. Although it started in the wholesale channel, many direct-to-consumer brands rely on wholesale as a secondary channel to help grow and build brand awareness. Knix, another Canadian-based intimates company, took this approach, with wholesale being its primary distribution channel in its early days, but has since veered its focus to direct-to-consumer. ThirdLove, a trending US-based company known for its half-size bras, is also available in numerous wholesalers like Neiman Marcus and Amazon
AMZN
The Future Of Bravado Designs
The partnership with Easton International underscores Bravado Designs’ commitment to delivering unparalleled customer service and enhancing its brand presence in key markets. It’s yet another step in revitalizing the historical brand and helping it meet today’s mothers where they shop.
“Like every other brand out there, we want to be where the consumer shops, and we know that’s changing. So, through the partnership [with Easton], our commitment to wholesale is there, and that’s not to say DTC won’t play an important role, but if that’s where she’s educated and then she checks out at one of our partners, we’re very okay with that,” said McCasey.
Although the company’s DTC business is minimal, it may also increase with the rebranding and growing brand awareness through wholesale distribution. Historically, many brands have had a small DTC business, including Nike
NKE
By harnessing Easton International’s extensive sales network and expertise, Bravado Designs is well-positioned to reach new customers and unlock new growth opportunities in the competitive maternity and nursing wear segment. And, perhaps, grow into the DTC business down the road. In the meantime, the partnership shows continued effort by the company to revitalize itself as a traditional brand and maintain success in the ever-competitive intimates category.
Read the full article here