Bought last year by French retail giant Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR), the formerly public Brylane has built up a solid group of specialty-size and budget apparel books over the past several years. In addition to its Lerner New York, Lane Bryant, and Roaman’s woman’s clothing books, the company acquired women’s off-price apparel book Chadwick’s of Boston and men’s specialty size mailer King-Size. And in the late 1990s, it launched specialty-size women’s apparel book Jessica London, the male youth-oriented Brett, and most recently the U.S. version of PPR’s La Redoute catalog. In the process, Brylane has built up a 23 million-name database.
Other than La Redoute, Brylane avoids high-fashion concepts, sticking with the tried-and-true. As president/CEO Peter Canzone has said, “We know our customers and the type of merchandise they want, and the price they’re willing to pay.”