Sari Sloane's The Westside Partners with Saks Fifth Avenue

California-inspired boutique chain The Westside is in expansion mode, with the launch of a new wholesale strategy and a partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue kicking off Monday.

Four years after selling Intermix to Gap for $130 million in 2013, veteran retailers Sari Sloane and Haro Keledjian founded Greenwich Retail Group and launched The Westside and Everafter, multi-brand concepts for women and children, respectively, that include 14 stores coast to coast. coast.

Now they have decided to develop their own collections The Westside, Everafter and Summerland, which are aimed at teenagers.

Currently, these brands - which were selling on-trend resort outfits for spring, such as cut-out mini dresses, ruched crop tops, ruffled bodysuits, fringed T-shirts, psychedelic floral wide-leg pants and terry cloth pouches - account for 35% of online market and in-store sales.

Saks will launch both The Westside and Everafter in fall 2022, kicking off wholesale. The collections will be in stores in New York, Beverly Hills and Boston as well as online. Additionally, Sloane will be hosting a virtual event on Saks Live on September 28 with a behind-the-scenes look at her favorite pieces.

“Private labeling is something I did a bit during the Intermix days,” Sloane said. "But it's been a really, really fun learning experience, and it's been very well received. Our customers love it, and it's really meant to be complementary to our product assortment, but also a real driver for growth. And today 'today, when so many different aspects of the business have changed, from the supply chain, to supplier credits, to all the brands having their own e-commerce, it gives us a competitive advantage."< /p>

Although Sloane is based in New York, the name The Westside reflects the ambitious lifestyle of Los Angeles west of the 405 freeway, where lifestyle makers like Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon, Kate Hudson and many others have homes.

Courtesy of Sari Sloane

"Intermix was very designer, sexy, outgoing. And after we sold that, and I took a few years off, I started thinking about the fact that whenever I'm in LA, i love going to malibu, venice and brentwood - and it's actually different from beverly hills and west hollywood everyone looks like they've got their clothes on but they look so cool they are laid back and comfortable," Sloane said. "I would make it and just wanted to be in the James Perse lifestyle… so how could I bring that to New York.

“What I wanted for me was to have a wardrobe that worked for every day, whether you were in New York, Oregon or L.A. And when the pandemic happened, we We were very well positioned. Because sweatshirts and Ts and Birkenstocks were all we were carrying anyway. We were in a good inventory position and that saved us.”

Seeing the fatigue of sweatpants coming, Sloane began to supplement the supply of stores, which carry dresses, casual tops and jeans from brands such as Ulla Johnson, Sea, Cult Gaia, Isabel Marant, Ganni , Re/Done, Citizens of Humanity ...