The Olsen twins debut junior line for J.C. Penny!

The Olsen twins have always been known to be fashion icons throughout Hollywood, even from a young age. They have been in the fashion industry for years, starting with their clothing, furniture and jewelry line for Walmart, to their high end women and men’s line called The Row and Elizabeth and James. Through the years, they have really shown their fashion design talents and just last week they joined the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Now, they have exclusively signed a deal with J.C. Penny in launching and junior line called Olsenboye.

Their collection will be rolling into 600 J.C. Penny’s across the country in Februrary 2010. Olsenboye, which is the girl’s ancestral name, will target to teens before the launch as a country-wide marketing campaign. On November 6, the line will launch at jcp.com and in 50 stores for a limited time. Once the line fully launches in the Spring, there will be magazine print ads, broadcast spots, direct-mail pieces and interactive efforts through the internet at jcp.com, facebook and twitter. On Monday, the girls set out an Olsenboye truck filed with cupcakes, balloons, pins and merchandise to cruise around New York City in order to gain attention from the public. Racks in 50 high-profile stores also sold a preview of the Olsenboye line. When asked about the marketing strategies to promote Olsenboy, Mary-Kate has stated. “Ashley and I felt strongly about creating a unique experience to reach the teen customer, using relevant marketing strategies that would effectively reach this key customer demographics.”

Throughout these past seasons, J.C. Penny has launched new labels from well known designers that have been affordable to their customer and have cut out lines that have lost interest to them. Now, they are catering more into the teen and contemporary crowd. J.C. Penny’s own executive vice president, Liz Sweney, has said that they are looking to “attract a younger customer” and adapting new brands in the way to go. Their recent launches have been, Bisou Bisou, I heart Ronson, Allen B., and Oxford & Regent.
The Olsenboye line will retail from $20 to $50 and will include “casual sportswear and accessories” such as denim, skirts, shorts, dresses, handbags, shoes, tops and bottoms. The neat thing about this brand is that it will have a travel-inspired mini collection that will vary in different cities. Sweney has said that the line is “very fun, fashion driven, trendy and wholesome at the same time.” Although the Olsen twins are very petite young women, their sizes will range from size 0 to 15. They really want to serve a wide range of girls with this line and don’t want girls to think that they need to be a size 0 in order to look fashionable.

I have no-doubt in my mind that this line will turn out to be very positive for the teenage audience. I know that it will defaintely be successful because these girls are very fashion-savy. Being in the business at such a young age has really caused them to mature very quickly and know what the customer wants. I think it’s great when well known designers cater to the contemporary market, which is a vast majority of America. Ashley has said, “Mary-Kate and I watch current trends and see our partnership with J.C. Penny as an opportunity to add something unique to the marketplace, especially in the current retail climate. This collaboration will complement and strengthen our business portfolio, delivering trend-based fashion at affordable prices.”