This week, a look at how British brand Nadine Merabi is leveraging a niche category to drive big sales growth.
Nadine Merabi is leaning into the opportunity to dress Americans still making up for lost time. As post-pandemic revenge partying and dressing continue in the states, the U.K.-based, special-occasionwear brand is establishing a presence in the market which has largely driven its growth since 2020.
On March 8, Nadine Merabi will open the doors to its first U.S. store — a 10-month pop-up based on Wooster Street in NYC’s SoHo. And in February, its products launched at its first U.S. retail partner, Nordstrom, in several stores and online.
“The pandemic made people say, ‘I’ve had to wait, so now I’m gonna go big,’” said Nadine Merabi, creative director of her 9-year-old namesake brand.
Specifically, Merabi was referring to U.S. brides’ current approach to dressing for their weddings. In recent years, weddings have evolved “from one-day events to six-month occasions, with many events and opportunities to wear white,” she said. Nadine Merabi’s White Collection, launched in 2020, currently drives 50% of its U.S. sales.
Also driving the business are other events and celebrations — which, compared to the U.K., are larger and more plentiful in the U.S., according to Merabi. They include white parties, birthday parties, graduations and holiday-pegged fêtes.
The U.S. currently makes up 40% of the Nadine Merabi business, which saw 10% revenue growth, to $23 million, in 2023. The goal is to grow that percentage to 70% over the next three years, according to Blue Wilson, CEO. In addition, the brand, which has an Instagram community of 1.3 million, has a “huge social following” in the states, she said. Merabi, her husband and Wilson own the business.
“We were among the first brands to focus on and see success in this category [of bridalwear] for every event around the wedding,” Merabi said. Brides shop the brand for their engagement parties, bachelorette parties and wedding weekend festivities, she said. At the height of the pandemic, when couples moved to small, non-traditional weddings, many brides also wore Nadine Merabi for their ceremonies.
Arguably, bridalwear has never been chicer, as more ready-to-wear designers tap the opportunity to enter a growing category. Young fashion brands including Wiederhoeft, Tanner Fletcher and Hanifa feature bridal collections on their websites and in their runway shows. Plus, established brands like Rodarte, LaPointe and Staud have launched wedding collections in the last two years. In addition, white has been called out as a trend throughout this fashion month, as designers in New York, London, Milan and Paris dismiss old rules about wearing white after Labor Day and introduce bridal-perfect pieces for fall.
Nadine Merabi first entered physical retail in the U.K., in December, opening pop-ups in London and Manchester. Merabi and Wilson said they then had the confidence to invest in a store across the pond based on U.S. customer requests for a local store, the market opportunity considering the large population and the success of their first store locations: The average transaction value in-store exceeds that of online orders, plus direct-to-consumer sales in the corresponding regions have seen a lift. In addition, in-store shoppers have provided overwhelmingly positive feedback about the brand’s quality and fit, Merabi said. She added that, among those who know Nadine Merabi from social media, the stores have provided the brand legitimacy. They’ve also aided in community building by serving as hosting venues for regular brand events.
“Stores help with brand strength. And we want people to see the product,” Merabi said.
The London pop-up was slated to close in January, but Merabi and Wilson chose to extend its lease until March, after which they plan to find another available space in the area.
As for the SoHo pop-up, Wilson called it a test of the brand’s potential in the U.S. SoHo was chosen based on the brand’s large NYC-based customer base and the brand alignment with neighboring stores. Merabi also noted the brand awareness opportunity, both among locals and international tourists.
To promote the opening, the brand will host an in-store cocktail party, plus it will kick off its local community events with a gathering tied to International Women’s Day. In addition, it will leverage its U.S. email database, social channels and local PR company, run digital ads through Meta, and increase its focus on dressing notable fans of the brand. To date, those have included Tina Knowles, Kate Moss and Sofia Vergara.
The next U.S. markets that the Nadine Merabi brands plan to test include L.A. and Miami. Plus, additional wholesale partnerships in the U.S. and the U.K. are set to be announced this year. To date, the brand’s revenue has been heavily weighted in DTC, with sales made on its U.K., U.S. and European e-commerce sites.
Also moving forward, Nadine Merabi plans to build a U.S.-based team beyond store employees. Currently, it’s a team of 60, 100% based in the U.K. About a third of the team works on design and product, while e-commerce and customer service are also big focus areas.
According to Merabi, the company can take up to 12 months to launch a product, as steps including fabric development are done in-house. She called the brand’s pieces “timeless,” proven by the fact that a jumpsuit she designed seven years ago has remained the brand’s bestseller. Nadine Merabi produces its clothes in India, Turkey and China.
A majority of Nadine Merabi shoppers fall in the 25-35-year-old range and shop the brand 2-3 times per year. Merabi described them as “busy people with big jobs.” But the brand also has younger shoppers who save up to buy a special look and an older demo of luxury shoppers who buy 5-10 pieces at a time based on their value for the quality, she said. Most of the brand’s tailored separates and jumpsuits fall in the $200-$700 range.
Ensuring brand accessibility and a reason for customers to buy outside of peak events season has been top of mind for Merabi and Wilson. As such, they began testing a Nadine Merabi swim collection last year. Based on sales and feedback, they plan to soon expand the assortment — including the bright white options.
“Not everyone has a place to wear our [ready-to-wear] designs, but most everyone goes on vacation,” Merabi said.
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