NEW YORK — It’s never too early to hit the trunk-show circuit, Rena Lange is learning.
The Munich-based designer ready-to-wear company, which does runway shows in Milan, has staged trunk shows in the U.S. before but never as early and never as extensively as this year.
It has been doing trunk shows for its fall collection since February, and by the time the road show ends in mid-June, it will have made stops at 22 specialty stores, said Deborah Baum, executive vice president.
Baum said volume at the 15 trunk shows she’s conducted through last week has reached about $900,000.
Retailers contacted by WWD asked that their names not be used in discussing individual sales figures but said they saw sales from the trunk shows ranging between $50,000 and $225,000.
Stores freely expressed enthusiasm for the collection, however.
Harriet Kassman, owner of Harriet Kassman in Washington, D.C., said the Lange trunk show was one of the best such events she’s had in her store.
She said she liked the idea of an early trunk show because it insures that customers will be able to order everything they like.
Cedric Kirchner, owner of Cedric’s, in Edina, Minn., outside Minneapolis, also said the Lange trunk show was one of the best ever held in his store.
“We did much better than we anticipated — about twice the business,” he said. “We had a few customers buying 11 or so pieces, other women buying four and five pieces. We try to be the first store in our area to show the collections, and our customer buys early. It’s never too early for them.” Carol Ann Hayes, president of Charles Sumner, a Boston specialty store said, “It’s very early for a fall trunk show, but it worked out well.”
Baum said one of the reasons the shows have been successful is the earlier timing in comparison with other firms’ fall trunk shows — which traditionally begin around May.
According to Baum, bestsellers so far — items that have sold from 17 to 20 units — include a black embroidered boucle suit at $2,340 and a black velvet jacket with satin trim at $1,970, paired with a green and black plaid wool pleated short skirt at $860.