Luxury Brand Frette Expanding into Footwear

The Italian brand specializing in luxury lingerie, loungewear, and bedding is collaborating with Harry's of London for a men's and women's footwear collection called Frette by Harry's of London.

The collaboration is part of Frette's growth into a global lifestyle brand. The initiative will start off with luxury footwear and high-end accessories before moving into luxury home gifts, beach and travel items.

The capsule footwear collection features sporty leather and suede moccasins. They will retail between $350 and $440 for women's styles and $445 for men's and can be worn indoor and out. The collection will be sold exclusively at Frette's 25 freestanding global stores starting in November, followed by wholesale distribution to Frette's 75 shops-in-shop and then to department and specialty stores worldwide in early 2014.

"It's a great niche company, and their management team and manufacturing is all Italian. Harry's of London is owned by the Richemont group [Compagnie Financière Richemont], which also owns Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels," said Laurence Franklin, chief executive officer of Milan-based Frette Srl. "The focus on the details, branding and Harry's of London's technical construction makes it a Frette product. The designs are very classical, and people appreciate the quality and detailing....We sell an experience, not just a product, and we're very mindful of that because we have a very strong return and loyalty rate from our customers."