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WWD - Thalia Launches at Macy's
1. 1/20/2015 People - Retail - WWD.com
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Thalia Sodi
Photo By George Chinsee
Thalia Sodi for Macy's
Photo By Courtesy Photo
WWD.com/retailnews/people/macyslatinturnwiththalia8122155
January 20, 2015
Macy's Latin Turn With Thalia
By DAVID MOIN
That next hot item — it might very well be Thalia’s leopard
jumpsuit for Macy’s.
It’s cougarish, a bit familiar, and Thalia Sodi makes it modern.
“Tommy loves that jumpsuit,” said Thalia, the Mexican
songstress, soap star and wife of music mogul Tommy Mottola.
“Maybe it’s the fact that you are all covered up and it shows just a
little skin. It’s sexy. There’s some kind of wildness.”
Sounds like she’s describing herself.
Thalia's Red Carpet Looks Through the Years >>
Thalia is bringing her sultry Latina style and effusive personality
to mainstream retailing by teaming with Macy’s on an exclusive
multiyear Thalia Sodi collection. The launch is set for the first
week of February, and there’s nothing coy about it — not the look,
the distribution or the celebrity behind it. At the outset, 300
Macy’s stores and macys.com will sell the collection, which
contains over 200 stockkeeping units.
“It’s the biggest privatebrand launch in the history of our
company by a long shot,” said Jeffrey Gennette, Macy’s president.
“It’s the first time we’ve launched a private brand in multiple
categories — dresses, tops, pants, shoes and jewelry. There isn’t a
metro market that won’t have some level of exposure to the
brand,” with the highest concentration in states such as Texas,
Florida and California, and cities like New York, Miami, Los
Angeles, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus and Detroit, with the
largest Latin American communities.
“This is not a vanity brand. This is a business,” Mottola told
WWD. “Thalia takes this very seriously. I take this very
seriously.”
So does Macy’s. For the $28 billion, 840unit retailer, targeting
the Latin American community has been a big miss. It’s a so
called “white space” in the merchandising that Macy’s wants to
fill, in light of the dramatic growth in the demographic.
Executives say that within a few years, 20 percent of the traffic in
Macy’s will be Latino, from the current 16 percent. Nevertheless,
there are no brands in the store specifically targeting Latinos, and
Kohl’s and Kmart have a head start with their Daisy Fuentes and
Sofia Vergara lines, respectively.
The demographics are enticing. According to 2013 census data,
2. 1/20/2015 People - Retail - WWD.com
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Thalia Sodi for Macy's
Photo By Courtesy Photo
there are 54 million Hispanics in the U.S., representing 17
percent of the population and $1.5 trillion in buying power. By
2050, Hispanics are expected to represent 30 percent of the U.S.
population. One of every four babies born in the U.S. is Hispanic,
and, in terms of overall population growth, Hispanics account for
more than 50 percent. They spend 22 percent more than non
Hispanics and tend to spend more of their discretionary income
on fashion compared with other groups.
In terms of sartorial preference, “It’s very much in that VIP
mode,” observed Martine Reardon, Macy’s chief marketing
officer. “They always want to dress to the nines. They love to buy
headtotoe. They overindex in buying apparel, food, jewelry,
cosmetics and fragrances. The other place they spend is in
children’s, but they really care about what they look like.” Thalia,
said Reardon, is always “put together” — from the hair and makeup down to the shoes and jewelry matching back
to the apparel outfit.
Clearly, there’s a commercialism about Thalia Sodi for Macy’s. While it doesn’t break new fashion ground or play
too ostentatious, it seems fresh, flirty and focused on evening dresses, formfitting styles, animal prints, reds, gold
accents, a good deal of stretch and knits over wovens to handle Latina curves — Latinas tend to be shorter and
bigger around the waist. It’s geared for thirtysomethings, though younger women could wear it. Thalia’s evening
orientation, aside from its cultural bent, Gennette said, will be a differentiator on Macy’s casualdominant selling
floors. “This product is very dressy and very colorful,” Gennette observed. “A lot of our brands are casual. It looks
different from what we have on the balance of our floor.” The apparel is merchandised as a collection in a
branded shop with a large Thalia image, and the main floors of flagship stores have a display fixture as well,
highlighting all the Thalia categories.
Value pricing is another priority. Thalia’s dresses are priced from $89.50 to $99.50; tops; $49.50 to $59.50, and
bottoms, $49.50 to $69.50.
The jumpsuit’s the sizzler, but there’s also a spicy, bright red wrap dress with a big gold clasp that Thalia wears
with threering drop earrings and leopardprint opentoe heels, along with a gold fauxleather moto jacket that
she wears over a white top and pants. “They’re extensions of my personality and my culture — feminine, sexy,
young at heart. The whole line is attitude,” said Thalia. “We enjoy life. We have family. We have kids. We are
mothers. But we have to have fun. We have to go out and have our margaritas.”
It turned into a long night out when Thalia and Mottola met 16 years ago, on a blind date at Scalinatella on
Manhattan’s East Side, set up by Gloria and Emilio Estefan. It would be just for drinks — or at least that was the
plan. “When I showed up, I saw this guy dressed all in black and holding a martini. I hoped that was the guy.”
Drinks extended into dinner. “We forgot the world,” Thalia said. “I was smitten,” added Mottola. Thalia maybe
less so, telling her date they could meet again in another year and a half, when she returned to New York. Mottola
wouldn’t wait, and started sending her flowers and letters. Persistence paid off. Soon they starting meeting in
Miami for weekend rendezvous. They married in 2000.
The power couple have worked on music projects, acting projects and a shortlived Thalia for Kmart apparel line
launched in 2003. It covered more sportswear and home products, lacked the focus that Macy’s has achieved and
was further held back by Kmart’s own sagging fortunes.
Thalia first performed at age nine, and in 1986 joined Timbiriche, a Mexican rock band that was commercially
successful for a decade. She launched a solo career in 1990 and has since sold more than 40 million records. She’s
appeared in Victoria’s Secret ads. She’s on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and at a White House performance
celebrating Mexican heritage, she asked President Obama to dance. She’s an author and a mother of two.