Art Of The Deal: Bon Business

MAX AZRIA HAS SPENT HALF OF HIS LIFE in France, but he thinks Americans are more fashionable than Europeans. "The American woman is more stylish than any other in the world," he declares, in English less fluent than his French. "She understands the power of good style and has the confidence to feel comfortable." In 1989, inspired by what he saw on the streets of Southern California, he founded a modest contemporary label named after the saying bon chic, bon genre, Parisian slang for "good style, good attitude." Today he is chairman, CEO and designer of BCBG Max Azria Group, a $1 billion fashion powerhouse with 16 brands and a retail and wholesale network of more than 5,200 global points of sale, including 320 boutiques, some of them in locales as far-flung as Guam and Doha.

Azria, 57, has achieved his vision of merging mass appeal and fashion credibility by coupling the sophisticated detail of European tailoring with the casual, unfussy spirit of American sportswear. His primary line, BCBG Max Azria, consists of dresses, denim, outerwear, swimwear, footwear, handbags, sunwear, eyewear, belts, small leather goods and watches as well as men's shirts, tailored clothing and ties. Much of this product expansion is due to a series of licensing contracts Azria began in earnest around 2002. Last year he hired veteran stylist Lori Goldstein to focus BCBG Max Azria, which will have its first runway show in five years this month in New York City. While price points for the line range from $100 to $600, Azria branched out in 2001 with an eponymous designer brand in the area of $300 to $2,000. "We did it for more freedom," he says. "It can be a tad fashion-forward, and we can play. There are no restrictions." Last month he opened the runway line's first flagship, a 2,700-sq.-ft. boutique on Hollywood's Melrose Avenue that resembles an artist's studio, with four more locations to come later this year. In 2004 he launched a women's couture collection called Max Azria Atelier, which has become popular on the red carpet among celebs like Naomi Watts, Beyoncé and Eva Mendes.

But it's his contemporary clothing—the original BCBG Max Azria line—that is big business for upscale department stores around the world like Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Macy's, Harvey Nichols, Hong Kong's Lane Crawford, Taiwan's Mitsukoshi and Singapore's Takashimaya. "They fill a lot of niches," says Frank Doroff, general merchandise manager at Bloomingdale's. "If you want clothes to go to work, to go out at night, a dress to wear to an occasion, they're trend right." Doroff says it all started with "the slinky dress," but what really put Azria on the map were his "sexy tops" and ponchos. "Two to three years ago, his ponchos alone were selling easily over $1 million. That propelled us into looking at him in a whole different way."