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Wit h a Fo re wo rd by He idi K lum
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contents Foreword by Heidi Klum
Timeline
A Brand Is Born
INC & You
Brand Signatures
Be First In INC
From Runway To Your Way
When Supermodels roamed The Earth!
A Fresh Perspective
through the lens
Man On The Street
We Get Around
Acknowledgments
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foreword INC and I go back a long way. Well before Project Runway, we were jetting off to sunny Los Angeles, shooting in New York City and making fashion magic. We’ve both accomplished a lot, but it’s always wonderful to come back home. I’m excited to be teaming up with INC to celebrate the brand’s 30th anniversary. In fashion, where one day you’re in and the next day you’re out, three decades is a serious accomplishment.
This book is a toast to INC’s amazing story and a peek behind the scenes at the people, stories, ideas and inspirations that make the brand what it is.
And if you think INC’s past is impressive, just wait until you see what it has in store for the future. This year, 2015, is going to be a year full of special surprises from your favorite brand, and we’re happy you’re joining us for the journey.
Happy anniversary, INC!
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INC Brand History/Timeline 1985
Having operated as C.O.D. (Clothes on Delivery) for three years, the name was changed to INC International Concepts. INC was just a men’s brand at this point.
2001
1991 1992
1997
Opening of freestanding Macy’s stores in Japan and in-store shops in Chile and Peru
1998
2002
2009
1999
2003
2010
Launch of INC Beach Launch of INC Home Launch of INC Jewelry
2000
2004
2011
2013
1985-2015 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
1993
Launch of INC RTW
Launch of INC Intimates
1994
2005 2006
1995
Collaboration with Project Runway winner Irina Shabayeva
2014
Launch of INC Handbags
2015
2007
1996
2012
INC celebrates its 30th Anniversary
2008
Macy’s 150th Anniversary
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a brand is born W h a t ’s i n a N a m e ?
It all started in the Far East, in an airport with a legal notice. In the winter of 1985, a group of Macy’s buyers, including Peter Sachse, Macy’s current Chief Stores Officer, was on one of many four-week long trips to Asia. In those pre-Internet years, buyers took on a myriad of roles while traveling overseas. There were stops in Tokyo, to shop for inspiration; perhaps an extended layover in Seoul, to explore new styles and manufacturing partners; and then to China, where buyers would order merchandise, choose colors and dole out measurements. Trend-wise, this was the heyday of Izod, and American men’s sportswear was still very buttoned up. European brands like Ton Sur Ton were shaking up classic shapes like sweatshirts with zippers, color and silkscreen prints. Energized by the bold ’80s fashion, Macy’s thought there was something to the youthquake. But when INC was first conceived as a private label sportswear line, it had a limited mandate: men’s tops. It also had a different name. “It was originally called C.O.D., which stood for Clothes on Delivery,” Sachse says. “But then we got a telex—not an email, not even a fax!—from our lawyers saying that we weren’t able to use the name.” The United States Post Office, which owned the term C.O.D. (collect on delivery), viewed the new brand as an infringement. Thinking on their feet (and in the air), the buyers came up with the simple yet lasting moniker on the spot: INC International Concepts. They telexed the lawyers with the new suggestion. The rest, as they say, is history—30 great years of history that has seen the emergence of an international lifestyle brand that offers apparel for men and women as well as shoes, jewelry, handbags and a home line. 12
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S t a r Po w e r
Much of the credit for where INC is today goes to Terry Lundgren, the current Macy’s, Inc., Chief Executive Officer. In the early 1990s, Mr. Lundgren was head of product development for the private label business at Macy’s. Among the stable of brands that the company owned and sold exclusively at Macy’s stores, INC stood out as one of the jewels. “I immediately thought INC would be our best opportunity to create a very special fashion brand across the country with a singular point of view,” he says. And that view, of course, included bringing trends straight from the runway to customers hungry for the latest styles but not always able to find them.
“I immediately thought INC would be our best opportunity to create A very special fashion brand.”
And then he got to work, studying the best practices of the most successful American designers of the day. The result: The foundation of the brand you know and love. Reflecting on this legacy, Mr. Lundgren is proud. “I would put our incredibly talented INC team up against any successful brand on Seventh Avenue and tell you we can clearly hold our own against the very best in the industry,” he says. Of course, Mr. Lundgren is aware that one of the most important ingredients of INC is you. “I would like to thank our customers for their loyalty to the INC brand and for giving us feedback along the way, which has allowed us to stay so vibrant and timely,” he says.
—Terry Lundgren, Macy’s, Inc., Chief Executive Officer
An INC men’s sweatshirt, circa 1986, reflecting the graphic trends of the time.
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Ahead of Its Time
When INC was started in the mid-1980s, private label lines generally stuck to basics, while American menswear was just tiptoeing in the international fashion playground. “Today, the fashion world is much smaller; the lines are blurred between American and European fashion,” says Bryan Norris, Macy’s Men’s Design Coordinator in the ’80s. “Back then you still had a distinction.” But INC was always ahead of the times. “INC was younger, more accessible and hipper than what Macy’s had done before,” adds Ray Azoulay, Macy’s Men’s Director of Design in the ’80s. INC was also treated as a designer brand from the start. Unlike past private label practices, INC would deliver new merchandise monthly. It also worked more closely with the buyers and what was actually selling on the floor than ever before. So rather than load the selling floor with merchandise, pieces and trends came and went and were in limited supply.
T h i n k INC !
INC has always believed in the fresh perspective that comes from tapping outside partners. In 1996, when the women’s readyto-wear was making its initial imprint on the designer world, Rocco Laspata and Charles DeCaro, an influential fashion photography duo, were brought in to help enliven the brand. Their challenge? Develop a campaign that would establish INC International Concepts as one of America’s top designer brands. The first task: making the name catchy. The two devised a stunning multi-image campaign (to match the INC woman, naturally) featuring the model of the moment, Trish Goff, and musician Donovan Leitch that ran in all the top magazines.
Featuring elegant yet dynamic poses inspired by the work of iconic fashion photographer Richard Avedon, “the campaign was a series of images with captions like ‘Think Out Loud,’ ‘Think for Yourself,’ ‘Think You’ve Seen It All’ and the final page was ‘Think INC.’ So immediately ʻINC’ as opposed to INC International Concepts, which could be a mouthful, became part of the fashion vernacular,” DeCaro explains. But it took a second for the idea to completely gel. “At first we were like, ‘Think INC,’ is that it?” Laspata remembers, laughing. “But then we thought of Coke, and their slogan was ‘Coke Is It.’ Or Nike, who had ‘Just Do It.’ “‘Think INC’ was so simple, but right on target.”
“ʻThink INCʼ WAS so simple,but right on target.” —Rocco Laspata, Photographer
The decision to use Trish Goff was purposeful. “We were using very, very relevant editorial girls, who were doing major campaigns and appearing in Vogue every month,” DeCaro says, adding that Shalom Harlow and Elsa Benitez would follow in Goff’s well-heeled shoes. INC also played with the moving image, working with outside advertising agencies like DeVito/Verdi, which came up with the brand’s first television spot. Per Ellis Verdi, the concept was cheeky—literally! Shot in 1997 by the famed director Bob Giraldi, known for his Pepsi commercials and “Beat It” music video with Michael Jackson, the spot featured an effervescent Heidi Klum strolling on a Los Angeles street. She is wearing a pair of INC stretch pants, a groundbreaking fit at the time, which was flattering just about everywhere, including the derrière. One adorable canine is particularly impressed. “It’s not just a typical fashion spot; it wasn’t just showing off beauty,” Verdi says. “We really wanted to say something about INC, which was to show that it also has a utilitarian side. It has a point of view that’s not just to look pretty, look good and look sexy.” But naturally, Klum hit all those marks—and with a sense of humor too.
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INC &You Thirty years and it still feels like we met just yesterday! INC would not be the powerhouse fashion brand that it is without its loyal customers, and over the years we have learned just as much about fashion from you as we have from the runway. That’s why we tune in daily to see what’s selling at our stores across the nation. It’s why we’re in touch with you on Facebook, through emails and at all the great events we host (and which you attend) across the country. Keeping in touch with who the INC woman is “has really been the key to our success,” says Stacey Rosenthal, Macy’s Senior Vice President of INC. “For us, sometimes she surprises us, which is a wonderful thing.” You, the INC customer, aren’t just consuming trends, you’re helping to drive them as well. The experience starts at the store level at the INC shops. There, you can count on our sales associates to give it to you straight. That’s because we know the INC woman defies stereotypes. She’s not defined by racks of work suits, or only glitzy eveningwear. There’s a bit of everything in her wardrobe, because that reflects her real-life needs. That’s why the INC team regularly goes through training on the latest tips, tricks and trends to style for any occasion. It’s about putting together pieces that reveal the best “you.”
Perhaps most important, we have learned over the years that “fashion has never been about an age demographic,” says Nancy Slavin, Macy’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Advertising. Instead, “dressing is really about lifestyle and attitude.”
We see fashion as a dynamic lifelong journey with thrills, wins and, yes, some risks (see: sky-high gel hair and ’80s shoulder pads!). We will always be there with the fits that you know and love. And you’ll always have a co-conspirator up for some adventure! And this book is as much a love letter to you, our customer, as it is our brand history.
“INC Customers are fashionable, fun, fierce and sexy!” —Anna Dello Russo, Editor
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P lac e d f l o ral s w e at e r Our florals aren’t for wallflowers. Rather, they’re hothouse hues and oversize motifs that match with slouchy silhouettes for memorable contrast.
Some trends are so important that they transcend the moment. Whether it’s a maxi-length dress, exotic ikat, leopard print or military detail, these signatures are more than passing fancies; they are style signatures that remain tried and true, validated both by the test of time and by you. On the following pages you’ll learn more about the patterns, silhouettes and pieces that are iconic to the INC brand.
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M ilitary J ac k e t
Part of any savvy modern uniform, our military jackets are beautifully tailored and fitted to the body.
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at e r W rap Sw e but prim.
are anything Our cardigans imum gn them for max Instead we desi omatic hr oc on graphic, m impact. Read: a tfit. n enliven any ou palette that ca
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M a x i Dr e s s Flowing and seductive, the maxi dress is our spring and summer workhorse.
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T r e nch C o atÂ
A trench coat is an intriguing wardrobe classic. On the one hand, it’s a utilitarian rain-stopper. Or, when rendered in slick fabrics or bold patterns (like our look-at-me zebra), it becomes sexy and mysterious.
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l e o par d The cat’s meow, this fashion favorite print has become a staple of the INC wardrobe. We continue to reinvent the pattern with polished pieces that straddle both work and play.
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PA I S L E Y The definition of international flair, paisley has been around for centuries. Today, we pair the exotic pattern with clean, sleek silhouettes for a contemporary look.
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i k at Long popular in exotic locales like Indonesia, India and Japan, ikat prints instantly convey a laid-back, resort lifestyle. INC adds a Western spin by using the pattern with playful silhouettes like jumpsuits.
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be first in INC
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“BECAUSE it’s a fashion brand and the definition of fashion changes... That makes it fun. You never get bored.”
—Bill Mullen, Stylist
In With the New At INC, bringing in the new and next every season isn’t just a passing fancy, it’s been our credo and passion since the line was founded. In 1993, at the height of the grunge era, INC debuted its womenswear collection. “We started with fabulous flannel shirts; we had denim; we had T-shirts,” says Stacey Rosenthal, Macy’s SVP of INC, who has led women’s design from the beginning. “It was a very eclectic mix and match that you could put your outfit together from and you were good to go. And, really, we never diverted from that.” It was no different in menswear, where Ray Azoulay, Macy’s Director of Design in the mid-to-late 1980s, remembers the brand as constantly evolving. “You had to create for every season,” he says. “We were following what was hip and now.” That attitude has fostered long and lively relationships. Bill Mullen, a star stylist who has worked with celebrities and models alike and who has been styling INC campaigns for over a decade, thinks INC has always been about being a cool fashion brand with a sophisticated, urban polish. “But because it’s a fashion brand and the definition of fashion changes, the line changes over the years and with the times,” he says. “That makes it fun. You never get bored.” Other times, it’s about reinvention, as Nancy Slavin, Macy’s SVP of Marketing and Advertising, points out. “Fashions may cycle in and out, but iconic styles remain true. The trick is to make them feel fresh with new fabrications or new colors,” she says. Best of all, we keep our senses sharp by homing in on where trends are being birthed. In the 1990s, it was mostly the runways and music scene that influenced themes, cuts and color. Today, we are surrounded with style; we may spot an inspiring look walking New York City streets, firing up social media or captured beautifully on photo blogs. “The more to look at, the better!” Rosenthal says. “We haven’t gotten stuck on one thing. If it’s one thing the INC woman wants, it’s newness.”
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“
We’re brilliant at hitting the sweet spot: figuring out what trends are translatable to real life each season.
”
—Stacey Rosenthal, Macy’s Senior Vice President of INC
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Tr a n s l a t a b l e Fa s h i o n
When it comes to fashion, real style shouldn’t be lost in translation. “INC is not the kind of fashion that’s so high concept that you need an instructional manual on why it looks good,” says Bill Mullen, an INC stylist who has also styled for Vogue, Vanity Fair and Italian Vogue as well as designers like Vera Wang, Anna Sui and John Varvatos. “The INC woman just looks great,” he says. “She looks foxy and feels wonderful. She’s always about a modern way of dressing. It’s obvious and right there.”
Fresh From the Runway
“The INC woman just looks great.”
How do we stay abreast of the latest trends? By being flexible, nimble and quick to the chase. With trend-lets spawning from social media, the runway —Bill Mullen, Stylist and the street at a moment’s notice, “fashion is turning over faster than ever before,” says Maryellen Needham, Macy’s Vice President of Creative. Fresh new INC designs hit stores every month, making the brand “very of the moment.”
Design Matters
INC is continually inspired by the visual world around us. A pattern for the season might be inspired by a gorgeous throw pillow or a gorgeous top found in the streets of Shinjuku, Tokyo, or the latest statement coat spotted on the European runways, says Stacey Rosenthal, Macy’s SVP of INC who spearheads design. “It’d be one thing here and one thing there and putting it together,” she adds, noting that’s how real women dress. The INC team will then sift through the trends, cherry-picking the hits. “Maybe there are twelve trends that come down the runway that season,” Rosenthal says. “Our job is figuring out the two or three that will really mean something to our customer. That’s a lot of gut and instinct and, at this point, experience.”
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When Supermodels Roamed the Earth! catwalk queens
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HEIDI K LUM
Heidi Klum. Shalom Harlow. Trish Goff. Elsa Benitez. Kirsty Hume. Molly Sims. Eva Herzigova. INC grew up in the supermodel era, so it makes sense that we would work with top talent over the years. “We built the brand on the backs of the supermodels,” says Joe Feczko, Macy’s Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer. In the early 1990s, when INC was just starting to form its advertising strategy, Feczko, who was leading the brand as well as other Macy’s private label lines at the time, saw the supermodel era firsthand. But department stores then weren’t using top models in their usual campaigns. They were in high demand. “I remember being asked, ‘How did you book such top talent?’” Feczko says. Strategically, INC reached out to the best photographers, names like Rocco Laspata, Pamela Hanson and Walter Chin, whom the models trusted. “You bring on a big talent, someone who has all these really unique ideas, and everyone signs on,” Feczko says.
“We built the brand on the backs of the supermodels.”
Pretty soon, Harlow wasn’t just modeling for Vogue, she was the face of INC as well. Benitez might have been on the covers of Glamour, Elle and Harper’s Bazaar regularly, but she would also head to the studio to pose for the brand’s latest magazine advertisement. Many models, like Klum, who were cast for INC campaigns early in their — Joe Feczko, Macy’s Executive Vice President and careers would go on to build illustrious names for themChief Creative Officer selves. “There’s no surprise when you work with certain models why they are as successful as they are,” Feczko says. “It’s because they are professionals. They work and put their heart into everything they do.” -Joe Feczko,Macy’s EVPand Chief Creative Officer
Like any era, this one also had a sunset. “There was the end of the supermodel, which came in about 2000, and that segued into the anti-model and then the rise of celebrities,” Feczko remembers. “But it’s fashion—things cycle back around.”
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J a C q u e t ta W h e e l e r
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a fresh perspective t h e mu se s
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“Every day
you have to get in love with fashion.” —Anna Dello Russo, Editor
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The Muses We all have them in our life: women who are so effortless, cool, gracious, stunning, charismatic, stylish, smart and alluring that they inspire us not only in fashion but in how to live in style. Such are INC’s muses over the years: women like Heather Mills, Anna Dello Russo, Kate Young and Camila Alves. It was the spring of 2002 and Mills was working on her flagship charity when we launched a collection with the philanthropist. Kicking things off with a splash (including a hot fête at Moomba, the nightclub in New York City at the time, which was capped off with a surprise appearance by her then-husband Paul McCartney), Mills would come to represent the modern INC woman (one conscious of today’s global issues) for the next year.
“the beauty of inc is that you find clothes for every type of woman.”
Spring forward to 2011, when street style was just a fledgling thing and international Vogue editor Anna Dello Russo was queen of the flamboyant and fashion-driven. Certainly the Italian editor, who kicked off our yearlong “Editor-at-Large” program, brought passione to her work. “Every day you have to get in love with fashion,” she says. “INC customers are fashionable, fun, fierce and sexy.”
And, when Kate Young, a top Hollywood stylist to the likes of Nata—Camila Alves, Model lie Portman and Michelle Williams, stepped in for the second half of the “Editor-at-Large” program, she brought a bit of Tinseltown glitz with her. “Don’t be afraid to sparkle,” Young says. Or who could forget Camila Alves, a mother of three and wife to Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey, who captured the essence of INC when she became our ambassador in the fall of 2012. Juggling both motherhood and a career, Alves knows that clothing comes to life only on the woman. “She’s incredibly hardworking,” says Zack Resnicoff, the filmmaker who shot Alves for her INC videos. “I think she had a baby in each arm and was still totally gorgeous and was smart about knowing which clothes fit her body type.” “I’m a little bit more of a practical woman when it comes to style,” Alves says. “The beauty of INC is that you find clothes for every type of woman.”
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The Inspirations Nothing like electric youth for hitting refresh. INC has worked with some of fashion’s most exciting young talent just as they were building what would be illustrious careers. “Heidi Klum was a fresh-faced twentysomething when she began modeling for INC campaigns,” says Nancy Slavin, Macy’s SVP of Marketing and Advertising. Klum didn’t have quite the same star power then as today, Slavin points out, but the INC campaign would help provide a launching platform for her later Victoria’s Secret and Project Runway fame. Speaking of Project Runway (of which Klum is host and executive producer), INC would later collaborate with season six winner Irina Shabayeva on a capsule collection. The charming spring 2011 designs were meant to reboot wardrobe staples, such as the easy-to-throw-on dress. “I love to keep things classic and elegant but add a modern fresh twist,” Shabayeva says. “There’s a reason why there are classic silhouettes. They always suit women, and women will always gravitate to them.” “But it’s about making it new,” the designer says. “That’s always the challenge. How do you redefine a classic every season?” Shabayeva, who has since expanded her eponymous collection to include eveningwear, bridal and resort, especially believes in the power of the perfect dress. Her flattering touch? Strategically slimming black panels at the waist and a smart mesh liner, which “almost gives a Spanx effect of smoothing things out without looking tight,” she says. “It’s about dressing all-in-one.”
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T hrough the Lens
Over the years, INC has worked with some of the top fashion photographers in the world, including Greg Kadel, Sebastian Kim, Geof Kern and Walter Chin, to name a few. In the beginning, the brand wanted to convey a clear message through the images.
“We shot mostly in the studio because we wanted to keep it simple,” says Maryellen Needham, Macy’s VP of Creative. For maximum impact, the early campaigns referenced the look of Harper’s Bazaar magazine at the time, an elegant yet modern look that was created by the award-winning creative director Fabien Baron. “It was also a graphic feeling we were after and what was going on then in the fashion world,” Needham adds.
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“Simple and beautiful images let the brand speak for itself.”
Greg Kadel
—Greg Kadel, Photographer
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Terry tsiolis
Geof kern
That visual approach particularly worked for the supermodel era—INC was booking top talent like Heidi Klum and Kirsty Hume—which allowed the woman to shine through. Walter Chin loved working with Klum in 1999 for the “Get Noticed” campaign.
But it being INC’s roots, we were soon back to New York, the runway and iconic models, —Walter Chin,Photographer and with lauded photographer Greg Kadel on board. The dashing photographer, who has shot covers for international editions of Vogue, Numéro and W, would shoot our “Supermodels Are INC” initiative, which kicked off in the spring of 2007 and culminated in Macy’s 150th anniversary with, an Andy Warhol-themed advertising campaign that ran in the fall of 2008. For that entire year, Macy’s featured the models of the moment, including Klum, Kirsty Hume, Tasha Tilberg, Ana Beatriz Barros, Caroline Winberg, Anne V. and Jacquetta Wheeler.
Dusan Reljin
“the mood that I try to get across for inc is energetic, whimsical and beautiful.”
By the holiday 2003 campaign, INC was ready for an adventure down South—Dallas, Texas, to be exact—where noted lensman Geof Kern is based. Known for his distinct still lifes and surrealist style, Kern has worked with magazines like GQ and Fortune. Unlike the early INC images, which featured basic backdrops, Kern’s complex sets framed the model in a fresh, new way.
inez and vinoodh
“Apart from her radiant beauty, Heidi is an infinite source of fun and energy on set,” Chin says. “She’s an inspiration to all of us, and her sense of humor is a continuous bubble of joy. She remains the same today.”
“I see beauty in everyone,” Kadel says. “What makes these girls top models is that they are confident and have tons of fun with it, and that shows through in the campaign.” Kadel would also take the models to exotic destinations like Harbour Island, Anguilla and the Dumont Dunes, a famed portion of the Mojave Desert a few hours outside Las Vegas. “Sometimes on-location shoots help take the seriousness out of the image and give the models and myself an area to play in,” he says.
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SEBASTIAN K IM Dusan Reljin
Terry Tsiolis
“The Dunes was one of my favorite locations,” says Maryellen Needham, Macy’s VP of Creative. “We created these beautiful gold and silver sets and the environment was just something else,” she adds. But not everything went smoothly. “I’ll never forget this, the model we booked was coming from Italy, and she was delayed because of the volcanic ash that was spewing from Iceland. By the time she arrived it was already 2 pm, the wind was kicking up and we had only two hours to shoot!”
SEBASTIAN K IM
Dusan Reljin
SEBASTIAN K IM
Luckily, Kadel is a master at dealing with the last-minute variables and, in fact, sometimes gets a kick of out them. Firstly, he surrounds himself with “the best team in the business,” he says. “Some of my favorite moments in this business are when I get to catch those natural moments of fun and chaos, when we all are in it together, and we are all on the same team, and we just get the job done and create beautiful images.” INC photographers would also work with a rising class of multi-hyphenates, gorgeous and impressive women like Camila Alves, who was balancing modeling, family and a burgeoning television hosting career. Chin remembers her on set as an “alluring, vivacious and angelic beauty, who comes alive in front of the camera.” She’s also a dream to work with, he says. “She is very professional and expects the same from the team. Her spirit really comes across in the photos.” But that’s also because Chin, who continues to shoot the INC campaigns today, knows how to set the right vibe. There’s always uplifting music from Chin’s favorite artists, like Bob Marley, The Temptations and Maroon 5. “To me the INC woman is strong, chic and confident, and she has a very distinct sense of style,” he says. “The mood that I try to get across for INC is energetic, whimsical and beautiful.”
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MAN ON THE
STREET
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T h e INC M a n It isn’t just ladies who get to have fun. INC menswear has been pushing the envelope from the start, all the way back to 1985. In the spirited 1980s, American menswear was just starting to learn about texture, cut, color and even European fit. “When INC was just getting off the ground, American men wouldn’t be caught dead in anything other than traditional pieces,” says Peter Sachse, Macy’s Chief Stores Officer. In 1985, Sachse was a men’s knit shirt buyer for Macy’s Kansas City. He remembers when “men were very fashion averse. Eventually we taught men that it wasn’t all about button-downs.” The initial INC men’s design team was given a lot of creative freedom. “What was exciting about INC, when it was founded, was that we got to design for ourselves rather than for our fathers,” says Ray Azoulay, Macy’s Director of Menswear in the ʼ80s, who today owns Obsolete, the fine art and antique gallery in Culver City, California. “The INC man was younger and hipper. He was a technology-savvy kind of guy. He was our age—the designers.” Azoulay and his colleagues, including Bryan Norris, Macy’s Men’s Design Coordinator at the time, would toy with textures and add nifty finishes. “We worked with a lot of rayon blends and dobby tweed, and it was about the details like drawstrings and zippers,” Norris remembers. The team would also go on shopping and inspiration trips to Europe, where they drew from designer collections like the Parisian line Marithé François Girbaud or from London’s rising boutique culture. “The European look was about fabric mixing within one item and new fabrics; that was what we explored with INC,” Norris says, pointing to INC men’s woven shirts that featured contrasting fabrics on the sleeve and body or zip-neck polos in drapey rayon blends. “But while the 1980s was about oversized clothing, we never went too big or too dramatic,” he adds. “It was a relaxed fit.” Color also broke new ground. Traditional menswear palettes stuck close to navy, black and khaki. “We were using more off-shades or deep shades, like an inky blue as opposed to a clear navy,” Norris says. “There were also different types of burgundy that you didn’t see in many American men’s lines at the time. The entire collection was faster and slicker, trendwise, than what we had ever done in private label before.”
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F u t u r e Pe r f e c t The INC man today hasn’t so much changed as he has evolved. “He’s still the working guy in the great suit, who can take his jacket off and go out for the night,” says Josh Saterman, Macy’s Vice President of Design, Research and Development for Menswear. “He’s an explorer and he’s always sophisticated. He can be a traveler, but he’s the type that knows where’s he’s going.” The silhouette today—a slimmer contemporary fit—is just as striking but tempered for the modern guy. “The INC guy takes care of himself,” Saterman says. Other hits include suits and woven shirts for day and denim and updated tees for weekends. Also appealing: the recent athleisure movement, a sportier take on old school loungewear dressing, that’s given life to smart hoodies and jogger pants. Going forward, Saterman sees technology playing an even bigger role. Already, “it’s computer to cocktail dressing,” he says. For one, fashion is no longer dictated from the fashion runways. Rather, courtesy of blogs, websites, online images and social media influencers, trends are more visible and accessible than ever before, and the INC man is informed. “He’s able to dress himself more confidently because he’s up to speed on what’s going on,” Saterman says. And technology is only going to speed up. “Fashion is going to get even faster, and we’re going to continue to develop,” he adds. He already envisions a future less driven by seasons and more by advancements in textiles, such as novel combinations of performance wear and dressier separates that will “truly be taking the outfit from morning to night.” “The old rules are the old rules,” Saterman says. “No longer can you only wear linen in the summer and only wear white between Memorial Day and Labor Day. No longer are pastel colors limited to spring. The customer demands a season-less future. It’s the future of fashion and where INC will be leading the charge.”
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“
The INC man has always been a bit more fashion-forward, a bit more contemporary in his aesthetic.
”
—Josh Saterman, Macy’s Vice President of Design, Research and Development for Menswear
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W e get around
Over the Past 30 years, INC has grown from a men’s brand that
offered a limited selection of apparel into an international
lifestyle brand that encompasses apparel for both men and women AND also includes shoes, handbags, jewelry, a resort-inspired
collection and luxurious products for the home. Why? Because INC is committed to serving you in all the ways in which you live, from head to toe, day to night and closet to bedroom.
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T h e r e ’s N o P l a c e Like Home Today’s high-speed world may move at a breakneck pace, but if there’s one place to unwind and kick back in style it’s at home—where the heart is. That was the idea behind INC Home, which launched in 2012. Right off the bat, Laurene Gandolfo, Macy’s Executive Vice President of Home Private Brands, saw that the INC woman understands “rich fabrics, strong color statements, pretty embellishments and attention to detail. Her taste is both feminine and modern.” Now, each season, the INC Home team interprets the latest décor trends. Textile colors, patterns and treatments may be inspired by European innovations, the runway or conversations with the INC womenswear design team. Looking ahead, INC is exploring the dinner table and the fashion of entertaining. We particularly love the idea of the bedroom as a glamorous sanctuary with plenty of personality. Says Gandolfo, “It’s not just a place to rest your head.”
“rich fabrics, strong color statements, pretty embellishments and attention to detail. Her taste is both feminine and modern.” —Laurene Gandolfo, Macy’s Executive Vice President of Home Private Brands
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At the Beach Like a brilliant, balmy island day in the dead of winter, INC Beach is pure fun. It all started during a boho glam moment when Stacey Rosenthal, Macy’s EVP of INC, who spearheaded womenswear from the start, was designing chic kurtas for spring and summer. The piece was so versatile (it could easily go from beach to afternoon shopping to sunset cocktails) that “we thought INC Beach could be something,” Rosenthal says. So in the spring of 2012, INC debuted a tightly edited collection at a select number of stores, and like the perfect tan, the line has built gradually since. “The pieces are fabulous—they make you feel like you’re lounging in St. Barths,” Rosenthal says. And if that’s the mood, why not take it to a Caribbean isle? INC has shot Beach pieces on location in dream spots like St. Barths, Turks and Caicos, Anguilla and Harbour Island. All in a day’s work!
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“We excel
in styles that are dressy and feminine that always have a touch of something special.” —Michele Breslin, Executive Vice President of Center Core
All in the Details These shoes are made for talking. Ever since INC footwear took its first steps during the fall of 2008 season, it’s made quite the impression. “We excel in styles that are dressy and feminine that always have a touch of something special, like metal hardware or stone details. They have a lot of attitude,” says Michele Breslin, Macy’s Executive Vice President of Center Core, who oversees INC accessories. “Our customer is fashionable, but she’s no victim of trends and no detail passes her eye,” she adds. Like her lifestyle demands, the INC woman is also versatile, styling a classically beautiful pump with her work wardrobe or amping up a nighttime outfit with a sparkly platform sandal. On the heels (literally!) of the footwear collection, Breslin would go on to launch INC jewelry in the spring of 2012 and INC handbags and belts in the fall of 2014. A thread runs through all the accessories collections. She says, “It stays true to the INC fashion-forward lifestyle whether it be a best-selling statement necklace or an oversized clutch. And there’s a wonderful synergy that happens working with these different accessory categories and then dialoguing with the apparel team.” Another bonus of being in the INC world: the speed at which the brand keeps pace with the trends. “That keeps us on our toes,” Breslin says (pun intended). So much so, Breslin and her team are already gearing up for what’s up next—cold weather accessories for the fall/winter of 2015 season. Bundling up never looked so good.
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“My memories of working with INC are fond...to this day when I see INC signage in a department store a sense of nostalgia comes over me.” —Ashley Graham, Model
Sizing up the Competition Building on the success of INC’s 1993 womenswear debut, the brand launched a petites division three years later. Then in 2000, INC also introduced plus size designs. At the time, both categories lacked for fashionable designs. Many petites and plus size brand extensions were offering limited merchandise at best. With INC, that was never the case. “People’s tastes are the same regardless of their size,” says Jennifer McAlister, Macy’s Brand Director for INC, who has overseen both those categories for the past seven years. “Traditionally people have dumbed down the plus size offering, and that is not our approach here at all. It’s just as fashionable and sexy.” Over the years, INC has also found several areas in which to excel. For petites, border print skirts, ponte pants and maxi dresses are cut to her height—no hemming required. Plus size shoppers might like INC’s outerwear, which has stood out from the pack with novel details like strategic ruffles or striking military buttons. But the truth is a bestseller is a bestseller across the board. McAlister says, “People in the industry like to call people in these categories special sizes. I always like to say, ‘They’re not special sizes. They’re just people.ʼ” “The mission of INC is to fit every body,” she adds. “I’m passionate about that. We want our styles to be for everyone.”
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This may be the last section of the book,
but it’s certainly not the end of the INC story!
After three decades of bringing you fashion inspired by the runway, we’re still as energized as the day we debuted INC. And the future looks bright!
Thank you
for taking the journey with us.
And thanks to all the models, celebrities, photographers, stylists, makeup artists, talent and designers who have helped make INC what it is today, along with the entire team at Macy’s. This book wouldn’t have been possible without them.
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