Amazon has slowly but steadily been making in-roads into the fashion world. The online shopping behemoth already carries over 30 million clothing items and has acquired fashion sites like Shopbop, MyHabit, and East Dane. Now, Amazon is branching out and creating its own clothing line.
The company has been on a hiring spree, bringing on people with fashion experience that can bring the new brand to life, reported Women’s Wear Daily. The job postings have only gone up recently, including one for a senior sourcing manager that will help “launch new high-quality products” and another posting for a vendor-management role.
Amazon’s vice president of clothing, Jeff Yurcisin, hinted nearly a year ago that Amazon would consider developing its own fashion line in order to help fill gaps in its current offerings.
“When we see gaps, when certain brands have actually decided for their own reasons not to sell with us, our customer still wants a product like that,” Yurcisin said at WWD’s Apparel and Retail CEO Summit in October. Amazon could fill that gap itself, he said.
A private-label launch could help give Amazon (AMZN) the fashion boost it’s looking for, especially as the company is already on track to become the largest clothing retailer in the U.S. next year, according to an analysis by Cowen and Company. That means Amazon will overtake fashion mainstays like Macy’s (M) and Nordstrom (JWN).