Putting the Style Back into Life

It's difficult enough to launch a successful fashion label or retail space, but contemporary brands like Opening Ceremony and Earnest Sewn have chosen to extend their vision one step further—into the lifestyle category. That means you'll find Opening Ceremony-branded candles at their store on Howard Street and cashmere blankets and kids' clothes at Earnest Sewn's flagship in the Meatpacking District. For the brains behind these brands, taking a label and turning it into a way of life is just the next step in a fashion company's evolution.

Scott Morrison, the president and head designer at Earnest Sewn, says he wants to create a lifestyle brand in the same vein as Ralph Lauren, who arguably spearheaded the notion of a lifestyle centered on the way one dresses. Lauren may have launched his label in the late '60s with a modest line of ties, but his interpretation of the English aristocratic look soon became a uniform for middle-class Americans. Now, devotees stock their homes with everything from Ralph Lauren bedspreads to beach towels.

With Earnest Sewn, Morrison is trying to reach the modern 20- and 30-somethings who stock up on his Harlan and Decca denim. "I wanted to create a concept brand, not just a product," says Morrison of his stores. At the Washington Street flagship, the interior mimics an old-fashioned general store, with polished copper tin ceilings and rough-hewn wooden floorboards. Along with the complete Earnest Sew line, the store stocks C.C. Filson bags and Carpe Diem shoes, which are all part of the Earnest Sewn "look."

Opening Ceremony, which has expanded to Los Angeles in the past year and more recently took on the operation of the first Acne Jeans store in Manhattan, is taking a similar approach: appealing to its core consumer with forward-thinking looks, while expanding its product so that there's always something else to buy. Along with branded candles, cheap cotton shopping bags emblazoned with Opening Ceremony give the company the exposure that some conceptual designers they carry might not.

Acne might be giving away operation duties to the team from Opening Ceremony, but the Swedish denim experts are on their own branding mission, albeit in a less conventional fashion than other retailers. The company has published its own magazine, Acne Paper, twice a year since 2005, featuring a mix of portrait, fashion and art photography. They've also set up advertising, film production, web production and toy divisions.

Of course, brand extension can spiral out of control when not restrained. Brands like Christian Dior, Perry Ellis and even Ralph Lauren suffered in the late '80s and early '90s after their executives went wild with licensing agreements. At one point, you could find Chanel No. 5 at the drug store and Christian Dior-branded slippers at Macy's.

Many of the designers caught up in licensing were lucky enough to pull back before it was too late, however. Dior dropped the "Christian" and dissolved several contracts. And after their denim started showing up in outlets like Sam's Club, Ralph Lauren bought Polo Jeans back from Jones Apparel in February 2006 for $355 million. However, other brands—like Perry Ellis—still haven't earned back the fashion cred they've lost.

Right now, Opening Ceremony, Acne and Earnest Sewn are all far from overextension. Whether we'll someday stumble upon OC-monogrammed dog carriers or Earnest Sewn-branded bottled water remains to be seen. But we have a hunch they'll know when enough is enough.

—Jessica Arthur