This marks a milestone year for the John Varvatos brand: its 25th anniversary.
And while the company has undergone numerous shifts in that quarter century — ownership changes, a bankruptcy and the loss of its namesake designer — it appears to be thriving under its current owner, the private equity firm Lion/Hendrix Cayman Ltd.
“We’re very happy that this amazing brand is flourishing,” said Catherine Jobling, chief operating officer of both Varvatos and its sister brand, AllSaints.
Although she declined to provide figures because the company is private, Jobling said that when the results for the fiscal year were tabulated at the end of January, “we are in a healthy cash position, which is new for the brand. We didn’t meet our budget, but we just missed it, and in this world, you have to be grateful for that.”
With that as the backdrop, the company is prepping for a celebration later this year that will include a nod to the past as it lays the groundwork for the future. That will be underlined by the company’s return to SoHo, where it opened its first store in 2000.
On Sept. 10, John Varvatos will open a 3,200-square-foot store at 73 Wooster Street, not far from the site of the original store on Mercer Street. “We’re bringing the brand back to SoHo where it belongs,” Jobling said.
The new store will be slightly larger than the Mercer Street location, she said, and will represent “the piece de resistance” of all of the 17 John Varvatos stores, three of which are in Manhattan. That includes the store in the former CBGB’s location on Bowery, which she said continues to be “a strong store for us,” attracting both local and international shoppers.
The store will be on Wooster Street.
Courtesy of John Varvatos
The interior of the Wooster Street store will include antique rolling racks found in Paris flea markets and a combination of vintage and custom-designed furniture in leather, wood and steel. The light brown tones in the wood floors will be covered with Persian rugs to contrast with the white walls and lend the space a masculine elegance.
Movable, bronze brick-pattern screens will allow the company to highlight each seasonal collection, as will the large cast-iron and wood tables and the iron hang rails. Fitting rooms will be in close proximity to tailors and will feature antique mirrors.
The store, which has 13-foot ceilings, will sell the complete John Varvatos collection, ranging from tailored clothing, leather jackets and footwear to accessories, along with artwork curated by Morrison Hotel Gallery, a leader in fine art music photography.
Jobling said the store will also feature a special 25-piece anniversary capsule collection within its fall collection, “A Love Letter,” that was designed by Karl Aberg. It will include a mix of pieces inspired by the archive along with new ideas that reflect the aesthetic of the brand, all refreshed with modern fits and fabrics. She said the offering will encompass both tailored and casual pieces and will be available to wholesalers as well.
The John Varvatos fall collection still has a rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic.
Courtesy of John Varvatos
Jobling said the celebration will begin with a press trip to Italy in May, where editors will visit Lardini, which has been making suits for the company since its founding. In June, during Milan Men’s Fashion Week, the company will host a dinner with its “key partners,” she said. Then on Sept. 9, right before New York Fashion Week kicks off, the company will host a launch party for the Wooster Street store in partnership with a vintage car company. The store will officially open the next day.
Jobling said the company is also making some other moves within its retail fleet. It recently opened a pop-up in San Diego to remain in the market until a new permanent store is ready to open in three months. In San Francisco, the brand will move from the San Francisco Centre mall into a new street-level location on Geary Street in August. Much like SoHo, the company’s first store in that city was on Geary Street, marking another return to its roots.
In addition to its full-line stores, the company operates a handful of outlets as well as an e-commerce site. All told, direct-to-consumer represents some 80 percent of the business.
John Varvatos, the man, created the rock ‘n’ roll-inspired brand in 1999 and for the first few years, it was associated with Nautica Enterprises. When VF Corp. bought Nautica in 2003, Varvatos became part of that corporation. But the brand struggled for attention under VF’s ownership and in March 2012, VF sold a majority stake in the business to Lion Capital for an undisclosed sum. In 2020, during the pandemic, the company filed for bankruptcy, Lion/Hendrix Cayman purchased the business for around $97 million and Varvatos left the company. He is now chief design officer for Under Armour.
