Business and Industry
FN
August 15, 2005
ARABIAN SIGHTS WOMEN’S : WITH HER GROWING EAST-MEETS-WEST COLLECTION,
KARINE ARABIAN HAS HER EYES ON ATTRACTING THE ATTENTION OF LARGER
DEPARTMENT STORES.
by Michelle Baran
Karine Arabian is ready for romance.
Four years after launching her eponymous shoe collection, the
Frenchwoman is hoping to court a better department-store business.
But Arabian knows she’s going to be up against numerous other suitors.
“Fashion nowadays is very difficult,” said the Paris-born designer,
during a recent visit to New York. “Big companies are in China —
they have small prices. And for me, I am little and I have high
prices. It’s very challenging.”
Arabian, who has had her own store in Paris for five years and built a
substantial European business, most notably in Russia, is hoping that
her 30-style, elegant yet eclectic footwear collection will catch
the attention of larger U.S. retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman,
Barneys New York and Saks Fifth Avenue. Arabian’s shoes are sold at
upscale boutiques, including Pasadena, Calif.-based In Soho Curve in
Los Angeles and Primadonna in Marlton, N.J. Arabian is also toying
with the idea of unveiling a second store, in New York, within the
next two years.
“It’s a dream for me,” said Arabian, whose cousin, Dan Yeremian serves
as her business partner. (Arabian and Yeremian are both of Armenian
descent.) “I love New York.”
But as passionate as she is about pushing into the American market,
Arabian said she is aware that such a move will require a keen
business sense. In hopes of seriously growing her business, Arabian
said she also plans to show at The Train in New York and Premiere
Classe in Paris, along with having made her WSA debut earlier this
month. “I want to design, but I also want to be practical,” she said.
“A designer now has to be an artist and a businesswoman.”
After studying at Paris-based fashion schools, ESMOD and Studio Bercot,
Arabian started out designing jewelry and handbags for Swarovski and
Chanel before deciding to create her own line. The Karine Arabian
collection also includes her own jewelry, belts and handbags, along
with footwear. “I’m a woman, I love shoes and I’ve broken a lot of
heels,” said Arabian, whose grandfather is a shoemaker. “It was very
natural for me to do shoes. Shoes made by a woman for a woman.”
Two years ago, Arabian moved production from France to Italy’s Veneto
region. The change reflected a focus on improving the quality of her
line as well as an evolution of her design philosophy. Her styles
have segued from 1960s- and 1970s-influenced erraticism to more
romantic sophistication, ranging from $450 for a pump to $1,000 for
a knee-high boot.
A self-proclaimed fan of boots, Arabian admits that although her
passion originated in fall styles, she has grown to love designing and
developing spring product. Three main themes provided inspiration for
her spring ’06 collection of sandals and pumps: romance, the desert
and the Italian Riviera.
Meanwhile, in addition to her own shoes, Arabian has already been
approached by Swarovski to help design younger, trendier footwear
under the Swarovski name.
Surrounded by inspiring male French shoemakers, from Louboutin to
Frissoni to Clergerie, Arabian is in the minority as a Frenchwoman
designing shoes — a distinction she hopes will come across in the
way she designs her collection. “All the designers, they are all men,
and they do things too masculine, over-sexy,” she said. “I do shoes
very feminine, but not tacky.”
Caption(s): Designer Karine Arabian has partnered with Swarovski to
produce youthful styles.Copyright 2005 Fairchild Publications, Inc.554