In 2021, French Connection United Kingdom underwent an ownership change. Following that, Brandbank Group’s Australian distribution license with French Connection went up for renewal.
But Brandbank decided - after careful consideration - that it was going to end the agreement with the UK-based brand and reimagine the existing assets into a new vertical brand called ‘Unison’ - owned and operated in Australia.
As part of the rebrand, Brandbank will transition the same core team of 25 people who looked after French Connection Australia - across design, human resources and operations - and will refit its 11 standalone stores, 48 David Jones concessions and 57 Myer concessions into Unison. The website will also be updated to suit the new brand name.
Brandbank CEO Peter Halkett, who just joined the company two weeks ago, told Ragtrader that this large-scale brand launch was both timely and desired.
“[Brandbank] wanted to have something much more specific for the Australian market,” Halkett says. “Much more flexibility… So an Australian-focused brand with attributes that appeal to the Australian customer, and to really design a range that has all the products that we had in French Connection, but also has some more fashion products and slightly more premium.
“By reviewing and deciding to relaunch a new brand basically allowed the business to position it precisely and exactly how it wanted to rather than necessarily operate within the restrictions under a license agreement.”
French Connection first launched in Australia in 1998 through Brandbank, with Halkett saying the agreement originally involved shipping over all the product from the UK. Over time, Brandbank began overseeing and controlling the manufacturing and designing process in Australia
“In simple terms, controlling all facets of the brand from the manufacturer through to how it's presented at point of sale, flexibility is what it's all about now,” he says. “Distributing and licensing is quite different from being vertical. Brandbank made a very good decision by establishing its own brand now.
“It's been a successful business, but there are times when you've got to make a decision whether you want to continue. Because remember, when you have a license, a lot of the value of that business can be in the brand itself. We don't own brands. So when we have our own brand, we're creating more value by having that as our own brand name.”
As part of the transition, Unison will utilise the same sourcing channels that Brandbank uses for its other fashion brands, including Seed and Commonry. It will also continue producing many of the core product lines that were successful with French Connection Australia, while adding on new product styles.
“This is not like establishing a brand new business where we're starting with a blank piece of paper; we know what our customers like,” Halkett says. “When they go to the stores, and when they go to David Jones and Myer to our pads, our job is to set out exactly what Unison does compared to French Connection.
“We're hoping a lot of French Connection customers will like what we're doing with Unison, and, in many ways, we'll be designing many of exactly the same products with the same fabrics in the same fit and same style.”
Halkett says there will be no immediate changes to price points, with current lines averaging between $50 to $350, nor any major changes to its production output. French Connection Australia sold a core range with seasonal core and monthly drops. All of its styles will be designed in Australia, with manufacturing centred in Asia.
“What we're starting with is what we have today,” Halkett says. “There is definitely a lot of space for a lot more concept stores, because we only have a limited amount - compared to over 100 Seed stores, for example.
“In the future, once we transition customers, and we're satisfied that that's going well, we believe we can probably expand the size of the pads in time as we grow the range and as the brand gets more and more traction. Beyond that, I'm a New Zealander, so we'll have New Zealand in our sights at some point in time as well.”
Halket says when the brand does venture into New Zealand, it will likely open more owned stores than department store concessions.
Speaking on the entire Unison venture, Halkett says it will be the first large-scale launch of a new brand in Australia.
“It's a very unique situation,” Halkett says. “It's not for the faint-hearted. But one thing I appreciate about this business is they take a long-term view in their decision-making. This is definitely the right long-term decision.
“For me to join a new company and to immediately have such a significant brand launch is very exciting.”