Kleinfeld Rings Up Trunk Show Sales, Launches Zales Collaboration
After years of discussing the prospect, Kleinfeld and Zales have joined forces to unveil a collection of lab-made diamond engagement rings and wedding bands.
Both parties marked the union with a launch party inspired by the Roaring Twenties at the wedding gown retailer’s New York flagship Wednesday night. Staying true to the theme, the white Rolls-Royce Phantom III car parked in front of the Kleinfeld store on West 20th Street was prime for photo ops.
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Inside the store, the mood was equally festive as the New York Belles sang and played music, while bartenders served up cucumber gimlets. Many guests dressed for the occasion wearing flapper dresses, sequined headdresses and button-holed shoes. Kleinfeld co-owner Mara Urshel abided by the dress code and mingled with guests. “After all we’ve been through in the past few years, having a Roaring Twenties party seems like a fun idea,” she said. “It was a natural extension for bridal.”
The 15-piece Zales collaboration — a first for both companies — features lab-grown diamond jewelry that was inspired by wedding gowns. Engagement rings, necklaces and other jewelry will be offered in 200 Zales stores. An engagement ring that is just shy of 4 carats retails for nearly $9,000. A 7-carat lab-made diamond retails for $120,000. The union was talked about for years, before both companies finalized the deal, said Urshel. The retailer’s chief executive officer Ronnie Rothstein was also in the mix at the event.
Kleinfeld has been seeing success with trunk shows — a recent three-day trunk show for Pnina Tornai rang up more than $500,000 in sales. A three-day one for Anne Barge is expected to drum up about $250,000, according to Urshel. That will be followed by another trunk show for Martina Liana hosted by head designer Martine Harris, who is flying in from Europe for the event.
In other bridal-related news, the equality-minded wedding publication Love Inc. launched its first nationally distributed print issue earlier this week through 40 major retailers in North America. The wedding-centric publication was started about a decade ago by Brittny Drye. In a cover story, Brooke Eden discussed being gay in the conservative country music scene, as well as her nuptials. This season’s Love Inc. print edition is offered in more than 40 major retailers in North America.
Along with information about style, planning, inspiration, registry, destinations and post-wedding alteration, the debut issue highlights how to make weddings inclusive for all guests and how to break old-school wedding rules. There is also intel about gender-inclusive beauty brands and hotel-inspired home decor products that are suitable for wedding registries. And the October issue spotlights eight LGBTQ weddings, including a celebrity destination wedding in Mexico, among others.
