Victor Glemaud to Offer E-commerce for Curve Sizes

Victor Glemaud is relaunching his web site, Glemaud.com, and adding an e-commerce component for his curve designs.

The designer will introduce a 3-D/avatar offering a full 360-degree view of products for an immersive experience with pieces in the collection. For the site design, which includes other aesthetic changes like updating the background from white to pink, Glemaud partnered with Alaska Alaska, Virgil Abloh’s London-based design studio.

“It’s really been an international team of creatives that really contributed to the celebratory, joyful aspect of the site,” Glemaud said. “It also highlights the natural elements of the collection.”

The e-commerce aspect will exclusively feature Glemaud’s fall/winter collection in curve sizing. His regular sizing is available through his wholesale partners and their web sites.

Glemaud, the Haitan-born designer, launched his eponymous leisurewear collection of statement knitwear, designed for all people, gender, races, sizes and personalities, in 2006. He was a finalist in the 2017 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, and his designer collection has been worn by celebrities including Ashley Graham, Hailey Baldwin, Issa Rae, Margot Robbie, Iman, Michelle Williams, and Selena Gomez. Glemaud sells his collection to such retailers as Ssense, Shopbop, Intermix, Saks Fifth Avenue, Ikram, Joan Shepp, Forward by Elyse Walker, and Rent the Runway.

While he has offered the extended sizes to these retailers, Glemaud said he never received “real traction” from his customers. “We know that this customer exists for us, so it was the perfect time to offer it on the web site,” he said.

Glemaud’s designs are the same for both his straight and curve-size customers. And though the curve customer is a new demographic for him, the designer tested an extended size line at 11 Honoré two years ago.

“We recognized the demand. We wanted to be able to ensure we could serve this client and understand this person,” he said. “I quickly realized they wanted to connect directly to the brand and what the brand stands for. It really was the perfect time to give them the world of Victor Glemaud with the product they were really after.”

The knitwear, with sizes ranging from large to extra large to 2XL, is manufactured in Turkey and Asia and shipped directly to customers from there, saving costs of a U.S. distribution center.

“We can create the demand and manufacture to that demand….The biggest issue thus far is returns,” Glemaud said, noting that the company has figured out a way to have return labels come to New York. “We’re able to ship globally, which is something I never really imagined.”

Going forward, Glemaud is streamlining the company’s business and offering three collections a year, which he’s very happy about. Previously he had four collections and is now eliminating pre-fall.

The fall/winter knitwear retails from $250 to $1,295, and consists of six different styles, including an open cut-out mock neck, long-sleeve maxi dress in Merino wool for $350, a ribbed V-front crewneck in cotton and cashmere for $350, an asymmetric slash long-sleeve top in Merino wool for $375, and a colorblock trench in Merino wool for $1,295.

“We’re focused on versatility and what would work in this moment of Zooming and social distancing,” he said. “What I’ve been doing for four years, what I call designer leisurewear, is perfect for the moment we’re inhabiting and we’ll be inhabiting for a very long time.”

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