Ssense moved beyond fashion with the launch Wednesday of “Everything Else,” an expanded product offering.
Available on the Ssense web site, app and in-store by appointment, Everything Else is a gender-neutral product offering of home goods, self-care, technology, activity and pet products from $30 to $3,100 by more than 90 brands including Maison Margiela and Laetitia Jacquetton for home, Bang & Olufsen for technology, Snow Peak for activity, and Aesop and Dr. Lara Devgan Scientific Beauty for self-care.
The Montreal-based global fashion platform sought out established and emerging brands for the product mix, some of which are already available on the site including Burberry, A-Cold-Wall, Marine Serre, Saintwoods, Vetements and even Versace, offering a capsule for the section that includes boxing gloves, weights, footballs and soccer balls and a pool inflatable.
Related Galleries
“We’ve been testing new categories since 2017,” said Krishna Nikhil, chief merchandising officer of Ssense. The platform tested a vintage Ferrari on its web site in 2017, as well as a Balenciaga kids’ collection in 2018, Virgil Abloh’s prints and limited-edition Burton snowboards with the Cutting Room Floor exhibit at Ssense Montreal, and in 2019 tested dogwear products.
“We saw an opportunity to do something outside of convention and typical boundaries that sit outside of fashion,” Nikhil added.
Products under Everything Else will be updated frequently and can be added to personal shopping appointment bookings, and the editorial section of Ssense will highlight the section through stories on an ongoing basis.
The self-care section encompasses several categories in one, including body, face and hair products and fragrance. Ssense noted that self-care product descriptions will include attributes, ingredients, benefits, application and added value benefits in the same tone as the fashion product descriptions.
“When it comes to Everything Else, we are representing products on the site honestly and truthfully in the way we shoot and write product descriptions,” Nikhil said.
He also expects the business to grow “very quickly.” He said, “We initially feel it can get to over 10 percent of our business. There is no reason why it can’t be more than our men’s and women’s business.”
To date, the Ssense business is split almost evenly between men’s and women’s — 52 percent men’s to be exact — and though Nikhil declined to disclose figures for this year, he said, “We have been very privileged to continue to operate safely and with strong results.”
Ssense recently launched Fear of God Seventh Collection with its Seven Days to Forever concept that included exclusive product releases of the brand’s Essentials collection and rereleases of its Barton Perreira and Ermenegildo Zegna collaborations.
While Nikhil would not reveal any new and/or similar projects for 2021, he said, “We were happy with the results with Seven Days to Forever with Jerry Lorenzo and looking forward to more continued collaboration with Jerry and our entire creative community.”