Altuzarra brings minority investor P180 on board

Investment specialist P180 has taken a minority stake in American designer label Altuzarra, the first monobrand investment for the New York-based retail innovator, according to reports. No monetary details have been shared.

See catwalk

Altuzarra — creatively directed by Joseph Altuzarra with Shira Sue Carmi as CEO — is a popular name on the New York runways and has been privately funded since 2020 when it bought back the minority stake that Kering had acquired in 2013.

P180 was founded only this spring with the aim of the new venture being “to transform the profitability of apparel brands and retailers…  to invest in or acquire industry-leading brands and retailers that stand to benefit from CaaStle’s innovative technology.”

It was founded by retail veteran Brendan Hoffman and Christine Hunsicker who, crucially, are the co-founders of CaaStle. This key B2B technology company operates the innovative CaaS (‘Clothing as a Service’) rental platform that’s focused on the US and UK.

Its first investment in May was luxury retailer Elyse Walker. It said at the time that as a part of this new partnership, “P180 and Elyse Walker will be driving innovation in its digital experience by implementing CaaStle’s technology on elysewalker.com starting with the introduction of a Borrow collection” featuring a variety of high-end contemporary brands with new labels and styles launched monthly.

As for Altuzarra, the new investment should help it expand its global presence and also boost its digital strategy.

P180 leans heavily on CaaStle’s tech but it isn’t simply about adding rental for every business it invests in. Data and analytics are part of the offer and that means helping brands to buy and merchandise smarter and to reduce markdowns. Statement pieces that might be less commercial could also be big hits for temporary rental.

It looks likely that Altuzarra’s creative business will continue as usual with P180 taking on management of e-tail and rental likely to happen within the next few months.