They serve as the foundation for all high end labels and crazy patterns and accessories that are matched with them.
One digital experiment that didn't work for the high-end label was an online-only showroom.
Diffusion ranges are a well-accepted concept in fashion (think CK by Calvin Klein, Marc by Marc Jacobs), whereby a high-end label lends its eye and skills to a more affordable range.
"There's no God that said, 'Create a high-end label and not have your name attached to it,' " said a friend, Alex Hawgood, who works as a creative consultant on The Row (and formerly was an editorial assistant at The New York Times Magazine).
There were plenty of fashion students keen to snag a high-end label they could never usually afford, as well as Japanese kids raised on the cult of Comme des Garçons - some of whom had been waiting in the cold since just after midnight.
"It amazes me that he has all of these broad interests, and fashion is just one of them," said Kevin Harter, the men's fashion director at Bloomingdale's, which this month will introduce a high-end label from Mr. Williams called Bee Line, designed with Mark McNairy, the indie men's-wear darling.
It is planning to expand its high-end label J.Crew Collection, which is available currently online and in certain top-tier stores.
He worked in production sourcing finding manufacturers for the high-end label the Row for six months, but then Barbato, 59, was let go.
Also, LG Electronics is reviving the Zenith brand (which it bought in 1995) in America, as a high-end label for its digital TVs and related gear.
His high-end label, featured in 1995′s documentary Unzipped, was shut down in the late '90s, but after he emerged with a clothing and accessories collection for the mega-store in 2003, he became a household name.
Less than a month after casa di moda Prada sold its high-end label Jil Sander to London-based private equity firm Change Capital Partners for an estimated $120 millionn, it announced Friday it had inked an agreement with Tokyo-listed Link Theory Holdings for the sale of Helmut Lang.
