New Balance signed a license agreement with The Levy Group, Inc. for women's and men's performance and lifestyle outerwear. The Levy Group is an established leader in the design, development and production of premier
outerwear, producing more than five million garments annually on four continents.
Headquartered in New York, The Levy Group will manufacture, market, sell
and distribute a New Balance Performance Outerwear collection beginning
with the Fall 2006 season. The collection will be presented to key
retailers and the media in late December 2005.
“The addition of outerwear to our Licensed Products program enhances our
goal of reinforcing New Balance as a true sports brand,” says Ed Haddad,
Vice President of Intellectual Properties & Licensed Products at New
Balance. “We expect the New Balance Outerwear collection to complement our
existing performance apparel line and provide performance and lifestyle
outerwear to our consumers who participate in outdoor sports and fitness
activities.”
“Our focus is to create the highest performing apparel products in the
outerwear market,” says Todd Katz, president of New Balance Outerwear at
The Levy Group. “New Balance has built fierce brand loyalty around fit,
comfort, and durability and we will stay true to these core values.”
The Levy Group will produce a comprehensive, integrated layering system of
shell garments, fleece, and insulated garments for the initial Fall 2006
offering. All of the garments will incorporate fit, comfort, and durability
and use technologically-advanced materials and manufacturing techniques.
The garments will be engineered and designed for alpine trekking, hiking,
snow sports, and outdoor lifestyle. Natural fibers such as merino wool,
goose down, and performance cotton will be incorporated into the lifestyle
collection. Lightweight travel parkas, rainwear, trekking bottoms, and
performance mid-layers will round out the collection offering for Spring
2007.
The collection launch will be supported with a comprehensive marketing
campaign consisting of in-store displays, print advertising, media
relations, online support, and outreach to consumers at regional events.
Todd Katz has joined The Levy Group as President of New Balance Outerwear.
Todd worked for W.L Gore in the Gore-Tex fabric division for six years.
Prior to joining The Levy Group, he worked at The North Face as senior vice
president in charge of sales and merchandising. Shannon Hayward has been
named Vice President. Anne Hamilton is Design Director in charge of
product development for New Balance Outerwear at The Levy Group. Anne
previously worked for Asics, Skea, and The North Face. She is the winner of
ten Snow Country design awards.
