The ‘cheeky cousin’ to Abercrombie & Fitch joins the family, along with Abercrombie, Hollister Co. and Ruehl No. 25, as the fifth brand of the successful American clothing retailer. Gilly Hicks takes the company in a direction it has yet to explore with its other brands, specializing in bras and underwear for young women.
An Idea from ‘Down-Under’
The inspiration for Gilly Hicks came about from an Australian-themed concept two years in the making. Named after a fictional English girl named Gilly, the store’s layout and design is a reflection of her British colonial-style manor house on the shoreline of her home in Australia.
In the story, created by Abercrombie & Fitch CEO and Chairman, Michael Jeffries, the Hicks family traveled from England to Sydney in 1932. Years later, Gilly’s granddaughter returned to her grandmother Gilly’s historic manor house and opened up an underwear shop in the modern day.
Like every store in the franchise, Gilly Hicks gives customers an exceptional shopping experience in a fantasy-like environment with visual appealing décor and unique marketing concepts
Immaculate and brimming with feminine charm, the store is vintage-chic, complete with antique style mannequins, perfume bottles, crystal chandeliers, antique-style décor, dark cherry wood floors and shelves, red roses and lavish, Victorian-style couches.
Each store features a “bra library,” with over 40 different styles of bras on display, a “living room,” where a portrait of Gilly is hung and antique style dressing rooms. The vast store layout and dimly lit rooms allows for an intimate shopping experience, giving young women a girly and personal place to shop.
“They’ve created a store that inspires people to want to explore,” said Michael McNaughton, General Growth’s vice president of asset management for the Northeast in an article titled Abercrombie’s New Idea: Down Underwear by Molly Knight. “In my opinion, people shopping for intimate apparel probably enjoy a discreet closed setting.”
Abercrombie turned Aussie Style
The brash style of the Australians seems to match that of the self-confident, suggestive style that Abercrombie & Fitch is known for. Like the other stores in the company, Gilly Hicks sells tank tops, graphic tees, sweatshirts and sleepwear for young women. However, Gilly Hicks brings the classic style of the all-American Abercrombie brand infused with Australian style and a hint of vintage elegance to create its own clothing line of bras and underwear.
“This [Gilly Hicks] is one of Mike’s best new concepts,” said Joseph P. Tagliola, president of retail at Aventura Fla., in an article titled Abercrombie’s New Idea: Down Underwear by Molly Knight. “They’re building this brand on the image of a young, fit, surfer lifestyle, and we feel that image will resonate very well with our customers.”
Gilly Hicks offers quality merchandise that is intimate and feminine giving young women a classy alternative to other brands. And with prices ranging from $11 to $55, merchandise is affordable to Gilly Hicks’ targeted clientele.
The style can be described as girly, with vintage-style lacy and satin bras and panties, and wholesome with comfy tank tops, cotton underwear, ‘boy style’ underwear, bras, thongs, loungewear and pajamas.
The body care line, displayed in glass cases in the center of the store, sells lotions, body mists and body washes.
With Gilly Hicks’ assortment of bras and panties, female customers of the classic luxury brands will now give more detailed attention to what they slip on beneath their outfits.
Fact About Gilly Hicks
- The first Gilly Hicks store opened in Natick, Massachusetts in January 2008
- The top five bra styles of the brand will be in each Gilly Hicks fitting room for customers to try on
- Abercrombie & Fitch plans to open at least 800 Gilly Hicks stores
- The Gilly Hicks Web site is set to launch on February 1, 2009
Christina Martinez - I began writing for the Texas Lutheran University student newspaper, The Lonestar Lutheran as a Features reporter. I wrote profiles of ...
