Net-a-porter has partnered with Dôen as the first and exclusive retail partner for the Los Angeles brand, which will launch on the e-commerce site on April 30 with a capsule collection of 15 pieces for women and three for girls.
Santa Barbara, Calif.-born and raised sisters Margaret and Katherine Kleveland founded Dôen in 2015, and have carved out a niche with customers in L.A. and beyond with their romantic, Victorian-inspired prairie blouses and dresses. The brand has been largely direct-to-consumer until now, and marketed through social media.
“We’ve dabbled in collaborations and in strategic wholesale with Reformation and Le Bon Marché to gather some learning. But this is the first exclusive collection we have done,” said Margaret, adding that this is not the brand coming out as a wholesaler, but rather a move to access a new customer through what she hopes will be ongoing exclusive collections. “We’ve already been able to test these silhouettes on our early adopters, and being able to expand to a global, diverse customer base will be good exposure and feedback for us.”
Net-a-porter’s recent leap into children’s clothes was also a draw, she added. “A lot of people who know our brand come for women’s, but aren’t aware of it as a resource for kids clothes, too.”
“We feel so connected to our customer base and have an amazing relationship with them via social media,” Katherine added. “It’s exciting when we get to see a woman outside of the L.A. or New York context wearing Dôen; to build and reach that community has always been the goal.”
The collection, which retails from $135 to $305, includes blouses, summer frocks and sundresses in “crispy sun-dried” cottons; “salt,” “prairie blue” and “nutmilk” solid hues, as well as allover ditzy poppy and garden blossom prints, with three mini-me styles for girls ages two to 10.
“The brand has a cult appeal,” said Net-a-porter global buying director Elizabeth von der Goltz. “We love their take on feminine and flattering everyday pieces.”