Retail Diary: Brand Crush - La Ligne

La Brand Crush. ✨ New series alert ✨ I'm making la grandé statement by starting out with La Ligne as they are La créme de la créme. Mon Coup de Cœur de Marque.

First: What is “Brand Crush”? If you’ve been reading Sarah’s Retail Diary for awhile you probably know I’m passionate about retail and fashion¹. Since this is my retail diary, I needed a space to wax poetic about the brands, retailers and merchants I have a crush on. Consider this your business school case study, but a lot more fun (and you can shop, if you choose.)

Brand Crush: La Ligne

These are all my own thoughts, opinions and research. As I wrote this I did reach out to La Ligne and so pleased that they shared a special code: 10% off a customer's first order on the La Ligne website: SARAHS10.

Introduction:

• La Ligne was founded in 2016 by Molly Howard, Valerie Macaulay (formerly Valerie Boster), and Meredith Melling.

  • Macaulay and Melling were former Vogue editors who were inspired to create a brand that offered timeless and democratic fashion.

  • They first tested the idea after speaking with retail veteran Andrew Rosen (think Theory) by launching La Marque, a creative consulting agency to support other founders and also learn the business side of running a fashion & retail label.

  • Howard had previously worked in investment banking and at retail brands and brought a business-centric mindset to the venture.

• La Ligne operates as a "DTC-first" brand, with the majority of their business coming from direct online sales, 5 store locations (#6 Boston opening soon) and supplemented by a carefully curated set of wholesale partnerships (Net-a-porter, Shopbop, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus.)

• They have made a significant impact in the industry by offering a timeless and versatile collection centered around the classic stripe pattern or detail (example, the striped/ribbed pattern on a monochrome sweater.) The brand stands out for its commitment to quality materials, impeccable attention to detail, and a unique approach to fashion that moves away from the constant reinvention typically seen in the industry. Below we will dig into some of the reinvention of the retail model and what is unique about how La Ligne operates.

Founding Story:

• The idea for La Ligne stemmed from Macaulay and Melling's shared love for stripes and their desire to create a line of clothing that would become a staple in women's wardrobes. The founders were determined to do fashion and business differently, offering high-quality pieces at accessible price points, with nothing over $550 (stated at founding in 2016, we know a lot has changed in the economy since then, but La Ligne remains at an “accessible luxury” or “appropriately priced” price point.)

• In the early days, the brand faced challenges common to most startups, including securing funding and building a customer base. However, the founders' complementary strengths – Macaulay and Melling's fashion expertise and Howard's business acumen – helped them navigate these obstacles and establish La Ligne as a unique player in the fashion industry.

• One of the brand's first major milestones was securing a partnership with Net-a-Porter, which launched the brand's inaugural collection on the same day as La Ligne's website launch.

• I'm really impressed by their choice of store locations. Positioned near top hotels (just steps from The Mark Hotel!), surrounded by complementary brands, and conveniently close to gyms and great restaurants, they've created a shopping hub with a cozy neighborhood vibe. It's a smart move that helps shoppers see how their products fit into their lifestyle. Up in Northern California, they've landed in Marin Country Mart, alongside Veronica Beard and great spots like Rustic Bakery and Farmshop. It's spot-on!

• La Ligne's versatile and timeless pieces, including the classic striped shirt, became a favorite of fashion icons like Anna Wintour, who was often spotted wearing the brand's styles during the COVID-19 lockdown. This was major as Wintour is known for wearing high-end labels like Prada, Chanel and Oscar de la Renta, but during lockdown, as we were all wearing sweats, we saw that even Anna Wintour was *almost* just like us and gave her former employees the “AWOK².”

• Resources to learn more:

  • Press: La Ligne is often included in The Strategist and Wirecutter for their stripes and well priced cashmere sweaters (that are great quality) as well as WhoWhatWear, Vogue and Elle for summer dresses that work from day-time casual to evening weddings. I also love this Forbes article.

  • How the Trunk Show model helped the co-founders get out of their bubble and learn more about their potential customer and opportunities for the brand.

  • Podcast interviews: Two have come out in the last year that I really love and highly suggest listening to.

    • Glossy Podcast Interview with CEO and Co-Founder Molly Howard

    • What We Wore Podcast Interview by Capitol Shop Owner Laura Vinroot Poole with Meredith Melling (former Vogue Fashion Editor and Co-Founder of La Ligne)

  • Step inside a store via Architectural Digest.

  • For fun, Meredith Melling on Into The Gloss.

  • Past coverage in Sarah’s Retail Diary: La Ligne x Target collab, the background and moment of the Mer jean (see below) and Fashion 🌀 Spiral: Stripes to learn about why Stripes are such a beloved pattern³.

Brand Identity:

• Core values and mission statement of La Ligne:

  • La Ligne is built around the idea of timeless, versatile fashion centered on the classic stripe pattern. Sometimes it is more obvious in a striped sweater, other times it is more subtle with a spaghetti strap detail that has two straps instead of one to create lines or extra ribbing on the side of a sweater.

  • The brand aims to create effortless, everyday essentials and statement pieces that empower women with self-expression. I love that the pieces are so versatile and fit in well with an everyday lifestyle. The pieces can be worn for work, play and dressed up for event wear.

  • La Ligne wants to infuse a sense of fun into its collections and not take fashion too precious or serious.

• Unique selling points (USPs) that distinguish La Ligne from competitors.

  • Focus on the iconic stripe pattern, reinterpreted in various styles and designs.

  • Versatile and wearable pieces that can be styled from work to play, for various occasions.

  • High-quality, timeless pieces designed to last, in contrast to fast fashion.

  • Personal styling services (La Ligne Styliste) to help customers style their stripes.

  • Customization options like monogramming to add a personal touch. The monogramming can also be fun with the details on a sweater cuff for an inside joke or a special date.

• Target audience and brand positioning in the market.

  • La Ligne targets women of all ages who appreciate classic, effortless style. While a smaller more edited assortment (and more classic and less fashion drops) they do have men’s sweaters and an adorable assortment of kids classic pj’s and sweaters.

  • The brand positions itself as a provider of timeless, high-quality essentials and statement pieces that can be mixed and matched for various occasions. These are pieces you can wear season after season and year after year. They are not trend driven but more classic.

  • It occupies a space between fast fashion and luxury, offering well-designed, long-lasting pieces at an accessible price point. As I mentioned in a recent newsletter, they are very much in that “accessible luxury” price point where you get quality, well designed products at a price point that is in line with the quality. You aren’t over-paying for branding and marketing. Everything they do seems to be intentional and the price point aligns with this. Can you find a less expensive striped sweater, yes. Will it last and look as good next year? Probably not.

🛍️ Quick note: I write a lot (too much good stuff to share!) so if you’re reading via email only, you may need to click through to the web version or read on the Substack app. I promise it will be worth it. 🛍️

Hero Products:

• Stripes! Stripes! and more Stripes!

  • OG here, Breton here and a perfect button down.

• Sweaters

  • For me, this is the bread and butter and why I love love love La Ligne. They deliver in sweaters and this is such a staple in my wardrobe. It is a win that I love their dresses too, but THIS is what I really crush on with La Ligne.

  • The Marin, the iconic sweater that inspired an entire family of iterations: Men’s - Mr Marin, and Kid’s - Marini); on the women’s side, they have since launched a Mini Marin(shrunken style), Marina(cotton style), Mini Marina (shrunken cotton style), now being offered in striped and solid versions!!

• Dresses

  • Delfina (great fit with a zip up the front), Romeo (my favorite for ease and comfort - while still looking great) and Andie dresses are current bestsellers.

  • The dress makes a lot of sense for La Ligne for the simplicity and ease of dressing for a busy life. They also pair great with the sweaters to complete a full look.

• Denim

  • Why denim?

    • Always featured denim on site, since the stripe pairs so well with denim. They wanted to show how to wear the sweaters and tshirts how you would really wear. Customers would always reach out asking which denim they used, and they kept sending customers (and revenue) back to other retailers/brands. Bummer for a business to be doing that, but of course a big aha moment. Also, Molly Howard, the CEO and Co-Founder had worked at Rag & Bone and knew the space and opportunity.

    • Started developing in Covid - but paused since everyone was wearing sweatpants and wasn’t a focus. Then as people started wearing work clothes (and hard pants) again, they went back to the Meredith, the Molly and the Valerie. One inspired for each co-founder. Since the denim line is doing well, they expanded to denim skirts, jackets, shirts etc.

  • (From an earlier Sarah’s Retail Diary post) La Ligne launched a new denim style, the Mer and I’m so into the story behind this. In fact, I’ve been waiting for La Ligne to launch this style ever since they announced a denim collection. So I know they’ve taken their time to get this right. The story behind THIS amazing double denim look. I can’t even imagine how many inspiration boards and personal Pinterest style boards this is on (I know it is on mine.) To complete the look try a classic chambray shirt or gauzy linen top like this for spring.

    

Innovations and Strategies:

• Drop Model: Tuesdays

  • They have set expectations that new products launch online and in store on Tuesdays. Allows the consumer a time frame to constantly be coming back. With other brands you might go back 2-3 times a quarter but here there might be a new color way or silhouette (less skus) dropping every week. Great for engagement and a gamification.

  • This also allows the brand to get quick reads and iterate on future silhouettes, fabrications and colors.

• While there is opportunity for size inclusivity in dresses, the sweaters are offered up to size 3x.

• Sustainability and a play at Loyalty:

  • Re-Ligne is La Ligne’s resale platform where they build it into their business model to own internally vs outsourcing customers to resell through other businesses. This creates a circular fashion moment, is a loyalty play and allows for better integration to resell (use original brand images, tap into an audience that already loves the brand, let’s customers grab “the one that got away” and keeps the customer in the brand vs shopping a competitor.)

    • (From an earlier Sarah’s Retail Diary post) Re-Ligne from La Ligne acts more like a focused Poshmark or eBay. La Ligne hosts the shop but you upload the item and then La Ligne posts and integrates the original photos of the products with the resale item. This is something that sites like The RealReal doesn’t do (and Poshmark only has it if the seller does it themselves.) Again, this is an opportunity to own more of the circularity but really be a part of the conversation with the customer. It is also a way to focus on sustainability, which the fashion industry still has a lot of progress to make.

• Collabs:

  • Don’t Let Disco - I love when brands in different categories link up together. This is a single silhouette and a fun collaboration to learn about a brand with a similar mission, values, lifestyle or other similar affinity. I really love it for discovery and expanding awareness.

  • Target Collection - read more from Vogue here. It launched for Fall 2022. This certainly got La Ligne into more hands, broader awareness, allowed for many customers the opportunity to shop La Ligne in person and to play at a lower more opening price point.

• Trunk Shows are also a key element for their stores. Each location partners with brands to bring interesting and exciting partners into the space for events and trunk show. The stores feel more like a friends living room than a store.

• Growth Marketing: I’m impressed with their digital strategy. As an engaged consumer the instagram ads never feel intrusive to me and I always see the new drops each week showcased in their ads which feel value add. They offer styling strategies, cool looks and yes, of course I want to know what the latest drop is.

• The brand also leans into personal touches in marketing opportunities. I regularly get emails from the Sales Manager/Sales Associate I’ve worked with after a purchase. Asking how I like my new item and alerting me to any new collections I might enjoy. While this can be overwhelming from some brands, La Ligne’s emails always have the right touch of personal for me.

Personal Favorites:

• Biggest Crush: I have this in grey and it is my absolute favorite. I wear buttoned up with a thin tank or tshirt underneath or thrown open over dresses or over my shoulders. It is a year round hero product. I plan to get the black. I took my regular size in the grey (that was the last one left!) but I plan to go up one size in the black for a looser fit.

• I know many love the Marin Sweater, I have found for (5ft 2 inches) me, the Mini Marin is a better fit. I love her as an alternative to a sweatshirt. Takes a casual look up a notch but keeps it comfortable and effortless. Love that the sweater comes in solids, stripes, cashmere and cotton.

• Similar to the cardigan I love, the Lean Lines sweater. The feel is so great and the extra long ribbing around the sleeves/wrists is such a cool lean detail. This is the best best best stripe sweater. Great with jeans or your kick flare pants.

• My favorite dress isn’t available any longer, but keep an eye out on Re-ligne for it. It is called the Pointelle Marta and is fabulous. Current dresses worth checking out are:

  • the Andie (I call this an “errand” dress)

  • the Bianca (this is high on my list because there isn’t a dress that is more versatile than this.) I would wear Bianca with either the lean lines cardigan or the lean lines sweater. Wear with the denim shirt or denim jacket to style casually. For a cooler evening put the Marin/Mini Marin sweater with Bianca. I would also pair cropped jackets over this dress. Boots in the winter, sandals in the summer. Loafers year round. You get the idea.

• The Colby Pants are great and I’m thrilled they have a hit with a bottom that they can iterate on. Pair with a tshirt, silky button down (this one named after

  Marlien Rentmeester
  ), sweater, cardigan etc. She is also great for Airport Style. The Colby Pant first launched in March; the Black Matte will be restocked in June, and Black Satin will be restocked in September. New iterations and expected launch dates:

  • Navy Linen Colby Pant - June (sophisticated)

  • Red Poplin Colby Pant - July

  • Geometric Print Colby Pant - August (would love with a matching top!)

  • Olive Silk Colby Pant - August (love for fall)

Collab, Partnership & Category Expansion Ideas

• I’d love to see La Ligne engage in more collabs or partnerships to explore future category expansion. Here are a few ideas:

  • Left on Friday - for a great stripe swimsuit and athletic wear. This could be mutually beneficial because while LoF does great solids and color plays, they don’t do patterns. But it is super classic and could fit for a capsule collection without straying too far from either brand. I also love their material, it is super high quality and feels substantial for a bathing suit. LoF also has great workout clothing and a fun stripe legging, tank top and bra would be a great kit to test. (Ha, or Solid & Striped for the name alone.)

  • A Shoe collab - I could see this going in a few ways. I think a casual sneaker would be a great collab. I’m not going to suggest Adidas, but the stripes play there would be great. Keds has done some strong collabs (see Keds x Altruzarra), Vans is having a moment with their checkered slip ons (and they have custom so it could easily work operationally) and I could see Converse too. I’d also love to see a ballet flat - and while it is Chanel, the stripe treatment from their current mary jane and ballet flats is very cool. Look at the details here. Another here and here. I could see Loeffler Randall or Larroudé doing a great ballet flat or mary jane for La Ligne. Matching bag too while we are at it.

  • Comme Si socks or fun boxers. I see the La Ligne socks but I’d love more everyday socks - so this could also be an in house category expansion.

  • Paravel, Béis, Away or MZ Wallace for some striped up travel gear. I loved the Paravel denim collection and I think the suitcase world could be fun for a stripe. Strong affinity here with accessible luxury and travel. I could also see a stripe MZ Wallace bag or some travel pouches or toiletry cases.

  • And how about the perfect complimentary make-up collection? I love how Merit partnered with Proenza Schouler and did a kit with them. I think La Ligne x Merit would be great and the little clutch could be their iconic stripe. I also like that the affinity between the brands is great. Similar customers would like each brand and it is a fun way to introduce each. I could also see

    Bobbi Brown
    doing a collab with Jones Road Beauty here.

  • Home Decor Line - I also think they could partner with Pottery Barn/West Elm or a designer like Heather Taylor Home for a collab.

  • And while we are talking Collabs and Partnerships, I’d love to see a pop-up shop with a hotel or other travel destination. I could see something in Aspen, partnering with a hotel group like Four Seasons, The Rosewood or even a cool boutique hotel in London. They could do a special color way, a unique travel kit (a wrap, pair of socks and eye mask all in a zippered pouch) or even a summer dress and a towel for a sunny location. Travel and experiences are where people are spending money and this would be a way to test new markets and tap into discovery.

• Category Expansion

  • Outerwear - I feel like I need to see a Trench Coat from La Ligne. Would be a great spot to expand. I could also see them doing a cool pea coat or a “scoat.⁴”

  • Accessories - they have a limited assortment here, but I’d really love to see some belts for women. A small collection. And we know belts are having a moment, but I think it is going to be a longer moment and stick around for awhile. Pairs great with denim. Of course some Handbags and totes too and in winter they could really expand the cold weather accessories. The Acne Vally scarf was really popular this year, but I could see a version of this in stripe from La Ligne. Or the lean lines stripe sweater as a cold weather set.

Opportunity - Site Improvements

• This is one place I’m going to recommend improvements and opportunities.

  • Navigation - while kids and mens are not the priority, it is buried and difficult to find in the navigation. I knew they had it so I poked around until I found it but if you aren’t going to the site for these categories you wouldn’t know they existed. Likely such a small part of the business they don’t want to highlight it, but could be an opportunity for more sales (I mean, men and kids love stripes too!)

  • In cart/checkout experience - this is user error on my part, but I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve added things to cart, and thought I was “x”ing out of the cart to shop more but was actually removing the items from my cart. If a brand invests in using a heat map like Hotjar or Crazy Egg you can see where customers are clicking and how they are using the site. You can also see “rage clicks” where customers are finding issues with the site experience.

  • The Navigation experience can be improved - watching how customers engage with your site is like doing a “shop along.” You are able to see through the customer’s eyes and see their pain points. I recommend doing this for all ecommerce sites. If you work in ecommerce or have a shopping site you should absolutely watch and observe as someone else shops the site with no assistance and invest in using a heatmap to dig for the anomalies.

• Of course I’m ready for more stores since they do their shops (with trunk shows and local community feel) so well, but I like that they are taking their time and being thoughtful here. Boston is the latest opening and you can read about the Marin Country Mart store opening and West Coast expansion here.

• Of course, not every product is a perfect fit. I've snagged one sweater from the brand that unfortunately pilled quite easily. When I tried gently de-pilling, it created some small holes. It's still a cozy casual piece and I was able to darn (yes, I can sew - I put my Fashion Design degree to use), but made me realize I need to consider knit thickness more carefully for sweaters going forward - no matter the brand. Just a minor note for future shopping! At the end of the day, I'm still obsessed with their designs and quality.

Closing Thoughts:

• La Ligne is a brand that brings together modern sophistication and effortless style at a great price point for the quality. With their innovative approach to business, uncompromising quality, and a thoughtful ethos that resonates through every aspect of the brand, La Ligne has captured my heart (and yes, my Amex.) From their iconic striped designs to their commitment to approachability and kindness, this brand is a true standout and one I was not expecting to love as much as I do.

• What sets La Ligne apart is not just the quality or its roster of timeless design and fit, but its dedication to empowering women and a bit of having fun. With a focus on effortless style and versatility, La Ligne pieces don’t feel trendy, but always of the moment, becoming beloved staples in the wardrobes of fashion enthusiasts and everyday women alike. (Especially me, hence the Brand Crush.)

• I encourage you to explore their collections, discover your own favorite pieces, and share any of your favorites in the comments. Or let me know if there is a style you want to try.

• Stay tuned for future editions of Brand Crush, where I’ll delve into more brands that capture our hearts in the world of fashion, beauty and retail. Please comment with any brands you’d love to see me do a deep dive on.

And reminder: You can use special code: 10% off a customer's first order on the La Ligne website: SARAHS10.

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1. What else am I passionate about? Diet Coke. Taylor Swift. My family & friends. NYC. I won’t be rank ordering.

2. Anna Wintour is known for signing off with her approval as “AWOK” aka, Anna Wintour O.K.

3. The only pattern I really wear. Sorry to all other patterns.

4. Scoat = Scarf + Coat (isn’t that fun!)