Oscar de la Renta is scouting for real estate on Madison Avenue for his first retail store, as part of a strategy to expand a business that some observers say is being outfitted for an eventual sale, The Post has learned.
Real estate brokers said de la Renta, 70, combed Madison Avenue last week, looking at sites that included the Sergio Rossi store at 66th Street and the Georg Jensen store between 61st and 62nd streets.
Alexander Bolen, de la Renta’s 36-year-old son-in-law and the company’s director of development, yesterday confirmed the search.
“We are seriously considering space on Madison,” said Bolen, a former investment banker.
Unlike other designers who have rushed to open their own retail stores, de la Renta has relied instead on high-end department stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman to reach the wealthy, sophisticated women who buy his clothes.
Bolen said de la Renta has little interest in competing with department stores in the United States – “We don’t want to cover the U.S. in Oscar de la Renta boutiques,” he said – but would use the New York store as a model for expansion overseas, where the designer has limited distribution.
The move would be the latest example of de la Renta’s intention to stretch beyond his original repertoire: boucle suits and ball gowns for ladies who lunch.
“When I started my business, I was making clothes for the type of woman who today is on the list of endangered species – the married woman whose first appointment of the day was to have lunch with a friend,” de la Renta joked.
Today, de la Renta is experiencing a renaissance.
Sarah Jessica Parker wore three of his dresses when she hosted the recent New York City Ballet gala – this after her character on “Sex and the City” nearly fainted when her beau played by Mikhail Baryshnikov gave her a hot pink de la Renta gown.
At a recent trunk show at Bergdorf Goodman, de la Renta, who still personally designs every collection, was on hand as the mostly 30-something clientele snapped up $3.5 million of his clothes in the space of a few hours. (Anything over $1 million is considered highly successful at these invitation-only, private sales.)
“People used to talk about Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta as the two premier American designers,” said Marvin Traub, a senior advisor to Financo. “Today, that is a niche that Oscar occupies by himself.”
De la Renta’s ready-to-wear collection is estimated to bring in $50 million in wholesale revenue and sales of licensed merchandise an additional $650 million.
A deal signed last year with Kellwood to produce a line of moderate women’s sportswear under the O Oscar label is expected to add another $100 million at wholesale, and the company is already searching for licensing partners to produce shoes, handbags and men’s sportswear for the label, Bolen said.
Then there is a home furnishings line, launched a year and a half ago with Century Furniture, which has since expanded to include area rugs, upholstery and bedding.
Such rapid-fire growth for a business in its fourth decade has led some observers to suggest the company is being readied for a sale.
One person who has spoken privately with the Dominican-born de la Renta said the designer has discussed ways to unlock value for himself and his family, including his wife, Annette, and their children: Moises de la Renta and Eliza Reed Bolen, who serves as the company’s vice president of licensing.
One possibility would be to sell a minority stake to a private equity firm, this person said; de la Renta owns the lion’s share of company stock.
For now, de la Renta said he has no plans to sell.
“We haven’t really maximized the value of the company yet,” he said. “We can do a lot more on our own.”
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The Oscar goes to . . .
Fashion legend Oscar de la Renta is changing his business dramatically, and planning to open his first retail store on Madison Ave. The company at a glance:
COO and CFO: Rachel Barnett
Products: Couture and ready-to-wear lines for men and women; Licenses its name for jewelry to furs
Sales: $600.M*
Sells to: 22 department and specialty stores
Top competitors: Gianni Versace; Gucci; LVMH
*2000 est.