Smoke Rise Signs With Concept One for Accessories
Smoke Rise, the 10-year-old men’s streetwear brand, will introduce accessories to its collection next year through a licensing deal just signed with Concept One Accessories.
“We’re planning to launch men’s caps and bucket hats for summer, and backpacks for fall of next year. The product will coordinate with the apparel, using their embellished graphics and branding,” said Sam Hafif, chief executive officer of the New York-based Concept One, which designs and produces an array of licensed cold-weather accessories, handbags, backpacks and luggage.
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The headwear will retail from $38 to $48 and backpacks will retail from $149 to $199. Smoke Rise is primarily distributed through specialty retailers with a focus on streetwear, such as Hibbett, EbLens, Snipes and Jimmy Jazz, as well as through its own website.
The deal apparently happened fast. “I was shopping a mall in Los Angeles about a month ago looking at brands on the selling floors, when I saw the product and was immediately very impressed,” Hafif recalled. “Smoke Rise is priced above most of their competitors but the product is sophisticated in terms of the different applications and washes they build into the garments. I reached out to my rep and he told me the brand was performing very well at retail and that it never developed an accessory program, and so we became very interested in doing something with them. We had a number of meetings with the owners of the brand and decided to go forward.” A three-year licensing deal was signed, Hafif said.
“We are leveraging their graphics and applications and building hook-ups to each of their outfits, so for example, the hat matches the T-shirt and matches the shorts,” he said.
Smoke Rise is part of New World Creation Inc., a Korean American company owned by the Hwang family and based in Ridgefield, N.J. In addition to producing the Smoke Rise denim-based streetwear collection, the company is a large supplier of private label merchandise including denim and sportswear.
With Smoke Rise, there’s a steady flow of products, providing newness by releasing 12 to 18 new stock keeping units every other month. Hafif said the products turn fast in the stores.
According to Maria Hwang, director of merchandising at New World, the Smoke Rise collection includes denim as well as knit and woven sportswear for men. Hwang said the company is launching a contemporary/young women’s-oriented line for spring 2022 under the Smoke Rise Red label. The company formerly offered a young women’s line under the SoHo Babe label that was discontinued about five years ago, Hwang said.
Founded in 1999, Concept One is a major resource for licensed fashion and entertainment accessories. In addition to New York, the company has offices in Mexico and China along with a partnership in Canada and a London design studio. Concept One has dozens of licenses from famous brands and entertainment names such as Disney, Coca-Cola, Nickelodeon and Marvel, as well as owning Ful and the Danielle Nicole brands.
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