Big Strike Announces New Creative Team

A new Post "Big Strike Announces New Creative Team" was written on the January 17, 2012 at 6:45 pm on "Textile Global - Textile and Fashion News".

NEW GIG: Renée Thomas and Billy Curtis recently joined Big Strike, a
Los Angeles juniorswear maker, in posts for the Tracy Evans brand.
Thomas will serve as creative director. Curtis will be the brand's
sales manager.

After a major investment last year by a private-equity fund,
juniorswear maker *Big Strike* is on the move.

The $4 billion private-equity fund *The Gores Group* invested a
significant but undisclosed amount in Big Strike in 2011. It will give
the Gardena, Calif.–based Big Strike the juice to expand. The
juniors company makes labels *Tracy Evans*, *Halo* and *HeartSOUL*.

On Jan 11, Big Strike announced the hiring of fashion veterans Renée
Thomas and Billy Curtis for its Tracy Evans juniors label. Thomas will
serve as the creative director. Curtis will serve as the sales
manager. The label has been sold at mid-level retailers such as
*Dillard's*, *Kohl's* and *JCPenney*.

Thomas and Curtis intend to boost the quality, fit and fashion appeal
of Tracy Evans. "They were known for a basic trouser," Thomas
said. "We're going to bring new bodies to the label. We're going
to give it a more contemporary edge but stay at juniors price
points."

Thomas and Curtis started their careers in juniors fashions. But in
1998, they founded the contemporary bottoms line *Billy Blues*, which
was sold at retailers such as *Nordstrom* and *Fred Segal* during the
label's 13-year run. The company closed in December.

"Billy Blues stood for fit and quality," Curtis said. "We're
going to bring to the juniors level the same standards we had at Billy
Blues."

Big Strike President and co-founder Lars Viklund said Thomas and
Curtis would give the Tracy Evans label a new, fashionable edge. 
"Billy Blues, like Tracy Evans, has built a long lasting and
respectable reputation based on impeccable fit, attention to detail
and, most importantly, styles that sell," Viklund said.

Last year, The Gores Group bought a controlling interest in the
company, which had revenues of about $100 million. As part of the
deal, Paula Schneider, former president of *Speedo* and *Laundry* *by
Shelli Segal*, is coming on board as Big Strike's chief executive.

Schneider said Tracy Evans' look would appeal to young women and
women who had recently graduated from college.
For the rest of the company, she forecast, Big Strike's 2012 sales
will grow 20 percent over 2011 revenues. "There's an opportunity
to use Big Strike as a platform to acquire new businesses," she
said. Any new venture would stay close to Big Strike's strength of
sportswear-driven business.—Andrew Asch

The rest is here:
Big Strike Announces New Creative Team

http://www.textileglobal.com/2012/01/big-strike-announces-new-creative-team.html

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