Bill Blass clothing is back from the past and relying on new Creative Director Chris Benz to breathe new life into the vintage brand. Just one year ago Benz was approached by Blass COO Stuart M. Goldblatt with the opportunity to bring the brand into the now. Benz admitted that his first response was not a positive one telling Vogue, “When I first was called about it, I was like, ‘Ugh, Bill Blass!’ Because I sort of shared the [public] sentiments about the brand’s past 15 years when it was over-licensed.” With Goldblatt’s reassurance that the American designer would have total creative control of the first American designer brand, Chris’ hesitation eventually turned into a yes and now a year later he’s ready to reveal what came to his creative mind.
The former Marc Jacobs intern worked at J.Crew before launching his own collection in 2007 and made a name for himself winning several awards from the Council of Fashion Designers of America, Inc. (CFDA). Know for designing vivid and youthful signature collections, Benz drew on his own vision for the new Blass collections but reached into the archives for graphic branding. The new BB logo is borrowed from Mr. Blass’s own stationery. Chris assures that the new collection will have bright colors and signature pieces for every cool girl. Telling Popsugar, “Every piece can be the cherry on top of your wardrobe. We’re never going to do a black cashmere sweater or a black pencil skirt. I want every cool girl that I know to come to the website and find a yellow bag that she can wear back to things that she already has.”
As a part of a new rebranding effort Benz is taking an e-commerce-only approach for both ready-to-wear and accessories selling the collection exclusively online at billblass.com so consumers can only buy the new Blass from Blass. The new Bill Blass is scheduled to hit the web on November 2nd, shipping to 68 countries worldwide, with small monthly deliveries. Goldblatt tells Vogue that with Benz’s 170,000 Twitter followers, he was a logical choice: “We knew that we had to make this an e-commerce play and that Chris would be able to design and establish [Blass] as a digital brand.” In four days and 16 hours this Benz will bring Blass back from the past in style.
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