Oscar de la Renta increasing footwear and handbag offerings

Alexander Bolen, Oscar de la Renta's chief executive officer, in an interview with WWD, has announced that the brand will amping up their footwear and handbag offerings. That is, if he has his way.

Bolen, who is married to Oscar de la Renta's step daughter Eliza, was the one who originally told de la Renta to reject a deal he was offered regarding the purchase of his company. A former investment banker, Bolen joined Oscar de la Renta in 2003, and in 2004 he was promoted to chief executive officer. During the early 2000s, the company was still primarily wholesale, with virtually no free-standing stores.

The idea of free-standing stores was thought of as too much of a challenge for de la Renta, so he never really explored the idea. Instead, Bolen influenced the designer to focus more on other high-end market categories, like handbags and footwear. The business has been largely wholesale driven by the U.S., but, at an ACG New York Conference on Wednesday, October 21, 2015, Bolen said "For the first time this year, wholesale outside of the U.S. is better than in the U.S."

Oscar de la Renta to expand their footwear and handbag categories

It's been over a year since the legendary designer passed away, but he left a very lucrative business in place. Investment firm GF Capital has a sizable stake in the company, but Bolen has stated that the company is not looking for any more investors.

In terms of expanding the company's business, he is currently looking at stores that focus heavily on shoes and handbags. Of course, this will also mean shifting their focus to not be so ready-to-wear driven. “Currently the product mix does well in dense urban, affluent environments where women dress up for the workplace. If our handbag and shoe business develops more fully, there are [maybe] 30 to 40 locations we can pursue, but not with the current 80 percent ready-to-wear mix,” Bolen said to WWD.

The current business plan is to have Oscar de la Renta's business evenly divided between Asia, the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. Bolen has done an excellent job of preserving de la Renta's legacy, along with designer Peter Copping who took over as creative director of the brand after de la Renta's unfortunate passing. Copping has put out successful collection after successful collection, with continuously positive reviews from publications like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Elle.

The brand's days as primarily an evening wear brand seem to be over, however, as shoes and bags are their top priority category. If their new categories see as much success as their ready-to-wear, the shoe and handbag market is about to get a lot more competitive.