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Lululemon
During its
simultaneous drives into the
U.S. and Australia in the mid-
2000s, the Vancouver-based
sportswear company tapped
into a movie star–driven
craze for haute yogawear,
using a campaign called “Sweat Like a Celebrity.”
Roots
Though the
outdoor outfi er had six
U.S. locations in the ’90s, it
wasn’t a significant presence
stateside until it clothed the
Canadian Olympic team in
more than 300, opened 17 stand-alone
shops andbecame the fourth largest cloth-
ing retailer in Canada.
Now, after priming the Eastern Sea-
board with a smattering of locations in
New York City, the Hamptons and New
Jersey, Joe Fresh has just opened its
first U.S. flagship—on Manha an’s Fi h
Avenue, no less, alongside high-fashion-
for-low-prices competitorsH&M, Zara and
Uniqlo. If the line’s peppybasics cangarner
the same sort of following that its inter-
national rivals have, Joe Fresh will have
accomplished something entirely novel. “I
joke that we’re going to Fi hAvenue from
the frozen food aisle,” says Mimran. “It’s
kind of a circuitous route.”
If anyone can manage that route,
it’s Mimran. Exceptionally tan and
immaculately tailored, Mimran was born
in Morocco to a couturier mother and a
father who owned a gro-
cery store conglomerate.
He knew from a young age
that he wanted to work in
fashion, and completed
two bachelor’s degrees—
the first in fine arts and
sociology and the second
in business—to ensure he’d
prosper in his chosen field.
Success came in 1985, when
he launched Club Monaco
simply because he couldn’t
find a white shirt he liked.
“I had been very influenced
by the Japanese love of the white shirt,”
says Mimran. “There was really nothing
at the time here that fit the bill. Gap was
still Generation Gap, and
still selling Levi’s. There
weren’t singular retai l
brands.” (In 1999, he sold
Club Monaco to Ralph
Lauren for $52.5 million.)
In Mimran lore, the
white shirt story has taken
on a mythological quality
that illuminates the man’s
branding genius. Like apar-
ticularly fashionable chess
master,Mimranhasaknack
for spo ing an opening in
the clothing market and
54
MAY 2012
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HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
culture
||
Bright Ideas
NORTHERN
EXPOSURE
While retailers from
the Great White North
haven’t always been
so successful south
of the border (after
poor sales in its U.S.
National Tea Company
supermarkets, Loblaws
itself retreated in
1995), a few Canadian
firms have managed to
conquer the divide.
1080 Uptown Park Boulevard
Houston, Texas 77056
1.888.Granduca
www.GranducaHouston.com
Luxury Redefined
A night ...
A week ...
or forever
COME HOME TO
HOTEL
GRANDUCA
PREVIOUS PAGE: STEVE ALKOK/ZUMA PRESS/CORBIS (MIMRAN); GEORGE PIMENTEL/
WIREIMAGE (ALL RUNWAY). THIS PAGE: BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES (LOBLAWS)
AISLE 5, MEET FIFTH AVENUE
A Joe Fresh
boutique in Manhattan; below, the Canadian
supermarket where the clothing line got its start