Alex Mill relaunches

Is the fashion market not saturated enough? Well, if you design it they will shop (hopefully). The son of former J. Crew CEO and chairman Mickey Drexler, Alex Drexler, is relaunching Alex Mill, a line of men's shirts founded in 2012. Who will be the designer force at the helm? None other than Somsack Sikhounmuong, the former chief design officer at J. Crew and Madewell, who is officially the brand's new creative director.

Call it a comeback as the label has officially relaunched, this time including womenswear with worker’s jacket, dress, jumpsuit, tees, knits, and a small collection of accessories. Affordability was the mother of invention here with prices ranging from 35 dollars to 175 dollars. The brand can boast that they've already picked up some major retail partners including Nordstrom, Barneys New York, Net-a-Porter, Goop, and Mr Porter.

The cottons used in the collection were imported from Italy, Japan, and Portugal with everything designed to look lived in already. The women's collection was tightly edited, as Sikhounmuong realizes that the old way of shopping for t-shirts and jeans has long changed from his J. Crew days.

The brand's new hashtag is #uniformsforindividuals. “Nothing should ever be too basic or too boring,” Sikhounmuong said to Vogue.com. “Everyone knows what they look good in, but they still want to personalize the clothes to make them their own. We’ve included small, customizable details like these removable rosette buttons that come with each shirt and the interchangeable scarf and bandana straps on the tote bags.”

It's another turn at a brand for Sikhounmuong, who although couldn't help execute a turnaround for J. Crew from its perilous state, was the driving force behind Madewell's success. Where there's a void for the old J. Crew, perhaps Alex Mill can fill it.

photo: via Alexmill.com