Mackage: Charging Ahead Into 2022
Mackage, the Montreal-based luxury lifestyle brand, is heading into 2022 with a strong tailwind.
With new chief executive officer Tanya Golesic in place, Mackage, co-founded by creative director Eran Elfassy, expects to achieve a double-digit increase this year, and plans for a 40 percent gain in 2022. Known for its outerwear, the brand has successfully extended its product range into ready-to-wear and footwear and is increasing its long-standing sustainability mission, releasing a new sustainability initiative in the first quarter of 2022.
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“The business has been amazing,” said Canadian-born Golesic, who is based in New York and previously worked at Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors. She said the fall business has been strong since the beginning of September with increases in both e-commerce and its brick-and-mortar stores, where she noted the client has become much more engaged.
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Mackage, which wholesales mainly in the U.S. and Europe, does the majority of its business through its own stores and e-commerce. Its wholesale accounts include Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s. The brand sells in more than 40 countries.
Elfassy said they are seeing growth in the women’s and men’s businesses. Men’s accounts for 60 percent of sales and women’s is 40 percent, but they expect by next year, it should be an even 50-50 split. Golesic noted that the company’s skiwear and footwear leans more toward women’s, so that’s why women’s is poised to catch up.
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Elfassy said in Europe, both men’s and women’s are growing, but they’re seeing 100 percent increases in men’s wear. Men’s is showing major growth on other continents as well. Mackage is also seeing double- and triple-digit increases in its kids’ line.
In Europe and the U.S., Mackage continues to expand its footprint, strategically opening more stores. The company is looking at key cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago for new stores. They already have stores in London and Germany and are exploring other European cities such as Paris, as well as cities in Asia. Mackage has nine freestanding stores in Canada and six in the U.S. Two months ago, they opened a pop-up in Aspen.
One of the categories that is performing well at Mackage is rtw, which it launched several seasons ago and is an extension of the outerwear. “For us, it’s an ath-leisure concept,” said Golesic. “We’re really seeing 100 percent growth in ready-to-wear in Europe, North America and Asia.”
Elfassy said the rtw looks include joggers, shorts, tops, sweatshirts and mixed media jackets and vests with light down panels. The aesthetic is more rtw and dressy that can be worn out to restaurants, he said. “It’s on the high-end side,” he said, noting it’s for women, men and kids. They also developed a signature five-layer knit with an ultra-rich finish to serve customers seeking comfort with a luxury look and feel.
The biggest category for Mackage remains its luxury outerwear. Styles have technical performance characteristics such as being water-repellent, windproof and breathable. Mackage offers outerwear with two logos: The “M” logo for the classic customer and the “Mackage” logo for the younger one. Since they started adding the “M” logo on jackets in 2019, they saw an increase in selling jackets in a variety of colors.
Mackage is phasing out fur and isn’t designing any new styles with fur trims. The fall 2022 collection is comprised of 72 percent nonfur and 28 percent embellished fur styles that are carry-over and core styles.
The company produces all over the world, and its raw materials are sourced globally. Elfassy said the biggest challenges they are facing are transportation delays. They have been trying to design more in 3D. “There are advantages and disadvantages with sourcing all over the world. All it takes is one vendor facing COVID-19, and it kind of stops,” he said.
He said shipping sometimes takes three to four times longer and is much more expensive. Fortunately, all of their merchandise has arrived in their stores.
For the spring season, Elfassy said they design a four-season jacket that people can wear as a layering piece, and is made of a lightweight down. “It’s easier than having a cashmere sweater. You don’t have to wash it as much and it’s easy to pack. There’s no other insulation like down,” he said. They also offer leathers, light wools and trenches that serve four seasons.
The company has also had success with its footwear, which is made in Italy and lined in shearing. According to Elfassy, they started working on the footwear collection in Milan in February 2020, right when the pandemic hit. During 2020, the footwear consisted of a Weekender for $650, which was a sheepskin-lined boot for women and men that sold out during pre-sale, and the City boot, retailing for between $650 and $850, which was water-repellent and sheepskin-lined and for women.
“Both sold out completely,” said Elfassy. They were sold exclusively at the stores and online. In 2021, they launched their Hero boots and City boots collection on their e-commerce channels as well as offering its Hero boots to wholesale partners. In 2022, the entire footwear collection will be available on all channels. They are expanding their offering to include lined and unlined boots.
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The executives said the sweet spot in the outerwear is between $950 and $1,250, and they are continuing to elevate the product, adding to the top of the pyramid around $3,000. Mackage offers leathers, wools and cashmeres “and can play in the higher tier,” said Elfassy.
In discussing how Mackage differs from its competitive set, which includes such brands as Moose Knuckles, Canada Goose and Moncler, Elfassy said they always design from a fashion standpoint and then make sure it has functionality.
“Somebody who wears Mackage doesn’t want to take off their jacket as soon as they arrive,” said Elfassy.
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Going forward, Golesic said the company’s biggest priorities are around marketing and storytelling. In the past, the company has been in the contemporary/luxury zone, but now they’re fully in the luxury zone. They featured model Quannah Chasinghorse in their fall 2021 campaign and will work with her in spring 2022.
According to Golesic, in 2022, they will be launching their first 360 brand campaigns. They will work with leading personalities and have multiple hub campaigns that will highlight new proprietary technology and the use of sustainable materials.
Elfassy said the company has been working on its sustainability initiatives for several years. Mackage down is 100 percent sustainable and traceable, and they have used ethically sourced down independently certified by the Responsible Down Standard since 2019.
All Mackage leather is from tanneries granted a Gold Medal rating, the highest possible, by The Leather Working Group. Certified sustainable and responsible, it guarantees best practices in traceability, energy consumption, water usage, air quality, emission control and worker safety. They are also working with recycled down.
Next year “is more about the growth and continuation of our sustainability mission, it’s not new to us. In 2022, we are launching more 100 percent recycled collections. We will also continue to optimize our processes to reduce waste during all phases from sampling to production. Our packaging, visual merchandising and store builds will be conceived, designed, and rolled out with sustainability as a core criteria. Sustainability will factor into all our touch points 360,” said Elfassy.
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