BRANDINA THE ORIGINAL (U.S.) Announces 1st U.S. Location
New York, New York (March 9, 2011) – Brandina The Original is coming to the U.S.! There will be a new tenant on King Street in Charleston, South Carolina this April. Currently, Bottega Brandina stores are found only in Italy and Spain.
The Bottega stores are reminiscent of the small shops and boutiques found in Europe specializing in just a few items. Bottega Brandina shops specialize in handbags and accessories, built around the relaxed fun-filled, authentic lifestyle of the 1950’s Italian Riviera. Its products are crafted from the unique fabric originally used on the iconic sun loungers and beach chairs from that era.
In addition to Charleston, other Bottega locations currently under consideration are La Jolla and Laguna Beach California; Miami and Coral Gables, Florida; and Las Vegas, Nevada.
Charleston will not be the first U.S. sighting of these unique bags. Brandina The Original was the exclusive handbag at the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards®. Over the course of three days, musicians, actors, and press received their choice of bags from the GRAMMY® Gift Lounge.
Here’s what they said:
· “Joyful, sunny, easygoing vacation.” - Esperanza Spaulding (Best New Artist)
· “I love my Brandina!” - Marika Anthony-Shaw (Arcade Fire – Album of the Year)
· “Really cute line, inventive.” - Alex Band
· “My wife will love this!” - Justin Guarini (American Idol)
· “This one caught my eye” (when referring to the Penthouse bag in the Esedra fabric) – Martina McBride (singer)
· “That’s cool.” “Great product.” “So cute.” - Jennifer Hudson (singer, actress)
· “So, I could put suntan lotion all over my body and lay on the bag?” - Sean Kinney (Alice In Chains)
· “It’s so sweet.” “I love it.” “It’s a nice bag, I would wear it.” – Cyndi Lauper
· “Oh fantastic! So pretty, so nice.” – Elizabeth Rohm (actress, Law and Order)
· “That’s a great idea” (when referring to the unique sun-lounger fabric on the bag) – Greg Grunberg (TV show Heros)
· “It’s so cute.” – Nicole Ari Parker
· “They’re all great, I would take every color!” – Alison Sweeney (actress, host of Biggest Loser)
· “Oh, that’s kinda cool.” – Herbie Hancock (pianist, composer, bandleader)
· “How fun!” “Fantastic, I love it!” “I’ll be rockin’ the blue” - Taylor Dayne (singer)
· “That’s really nice.” – Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine)
· “Wonderful!” – Yolanda Adams (singer)
· “Love it…and the bag, love it!” – Shanola Hampton
· “They’re sick!” – Winston Marshall (Mumford & Sons)
· “Really looking forward to trying one of the helmets on.” (when referring to the Brandina scooter helmet) – Ben Lovett (Mumford & Sons)
· “It’s badass!” – Shar Jackson (actress)
· “I’m going to Cabo with my bag.” – Justin Rivers (musician)
· “I like the Brandina towel.” – Rami Jaffee (Foo Fighters)
· “That’s awesome!” “I think it’s a great idea! They are incredibly tough.” “It’s heaven for me, I lose my keys all the time.” (when referring to the trademark ring pull designed for every bag) – Jeremy Davis (Paramore)
· “Love Brandina, what more can I say?” – Taylor York (Paramore)
· “This is great stuff, it’s really great to see this!” – Jay Bentley (Bad Religion)
Individual photos are available from Wire Image at www.wireimage.com, search “Grammy Gift Lounge”.
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Passport Brands, Inc.
Passport Brands, Inc. (PBIX) is a designer, merchandiser and marketer of upper-end niche branded apparel and accessories sold in leading department and specialty stores. The company operates a disciplined and focused marketing and sourcing platform for a diverse growing portfolio of both licensed and owned brands. U.S. marketed brands currently include the “European Blue Line “ of Marithé & François Girbaud for young men, Flow Society, authentic lacrosse lifestyle gear for young men, women and boys, and Brandina The Original, an Italian based lifestyle brand focusing on the handbag and accessory categories for women. The company is growing a stable of sustainable niche brands across higher end categories and consumer segments through a combination of their internal merchandising and marketing skills and its financial and logistics partnership with Samsung. For more information please visit the company web site at:
www.passportbrandsinc.com;
www.liveontheflygirbaud.com;
www.flowsocietylacrosse.com;
www.brandinatheoriginal.us
The information posted in this release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated.
Contact Information:
Scott A. Sullens
Vice President of Marketing &
Brand Development
252 West 37th Street Fl 6
New York, NY 10018
Direct: 646.459.2620
Cell: 336.880.3699
ssullens@passportbrandsinc.com
Brandina The Original launches US presence at the GRAMMY Awards® Gift Lounge
New York, New York (February 1, 2011) - Brandina The Original announced the launch of its US marketing campaign in conjunction with the official 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards® Gift Lounge. Music’s Biggest Night® will be held on Sunday, February 13 and broadcast live on the CBS Network from 8 – 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The brand will present its product line of handbags and accessories exclusively to presenters and performers. Brandina is one of only 20 brands exclusively selected to present their brands/products in conjunction with this year’s show.
Among the scheduled list of high visibility presenters and performers are Eminem, Cee Lo Green, Lady Gaga, Miranda Lambert, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, and Usher.
Brandina is built around the relaxed, fun-filled, authentic lifestyle of the 1950’s Italian Riviera. Its products are crafted from the unique fabric originally used on the iconic sun loungers and beach chairs of that era. The modern color and patterns of the brand are the brainchild of Italian designer Marco Morosini. Morosini recently teamed up with US partner Passport Brands, Inc. to bring the brand to the US.
Bob Stec, CEO Passport Brands, stated, “We are very excited to have been able to team up with such a prestigious and high profile event to launch our brand in the US market. It is a dream come true to be able to present our brand one on one with such an amazing array of influential talent in world of music and fashion.”
“Our goal is always to share unique finds and undiscovered treasures with the star-studded list of visitors to our GRAMMY Gift Lounge,” says Distinctive Assets’ founder Lash Fary. “This iconic Italian brand is a perfect fit for the jet-set lifestyle of the celebrities who will be scooping up Brandina’s fabulous and fun handbags.” Distinctive Assets manages and creates the Official Backstage Talent Gift Lounge.
Company operated retail boutiques, named Bottega Brandina, are scheduled to open in April of 2011. Actual locations have not yet been announced but La Jolla, Laguna Beach, Coral Gables, Miami, Charleston, and Las Vegas are under consideration.
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Passport Brands, Inc.
Passport Brands, Inc (PBIX) is a designer, merchandiser and marketer of upper-end niche branded apparel and accessories sold in leading department and specialty stores. The company operates a disciplined and focused marketing and sourcing platform for a diverse growing portfolio of both licensed and owned brands. U.S. marketed brands currently include the “European Blue Line “ of Marithé & François Girbaud for young men, Flow Society, authentic lacrosse lifestyle gear for young men, women and boys, and Brandina The Original, an Italian based lifestyle brand focusing on the handbag and accessory categories for women. The company is growing a stable of sustainable niche brands across higher end categories and consumer segments through a combination of their internal merchandising and marketing skills and its financial and logistics partnership with Samsung. For more information please visit the company web site at www.passportbrandsinc.com; www.liveontheflygirbaud.com; www.flowsocietylacrosse.com; www.brandinatheoriginal.us
The information posted in this release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated.
Contact Information:
Scott A. Sullens
Vice President of Marketing &
Brand Development
252 West 37th Street Fl 6
New York, NY
10018
Direct: 646.459.2620
Cell: 336.880.3699
ssullens@passportbrandsinc.com
Passport Brands, Inc. Signs Partnership with Brandina The Original
New York, NY, January 10, 2011 - Passport Brands, Inc. (Pink Sheets: ISAC) announced today the official signing of a partnership agreement with Brandina The Original, for the purpose of launching the Italian designer brand of handbags and accessories in the U.S. The long term agreement partners the brand’s creative, product development and marketing skills with the merchandising, operational and marketing skills of Passport Brands in the U.S. market.
Launched in Italy in 2005, the unique brand of bags and accessories now has 5 mono-brand stores that currently dot the coastal region of the country. Brandina, the brain child of designer Marco Morisini and his wife, Barbara Marcolini, features original bags and shoe designs made from the stripe material traditionally used to build sun lounger chairs along the Adriatic. The brand is surrounded by a strong evocative power: it is a tactile and visual experience that evokes the Italian coast with color, scents and vivacity. The vision of the brand is to provide all consumers with the opportunity to experience this highly sensory part of the world. For more information, visit the web site at brandinatheoriginal.com
Brandina will be launched in the U.S. exclusively through Passport owned and operated boutiques appropriately named “Bottega Brandina”. The name reflects the merchandising strategy of having a variety of colors and patterns flow through the store on a regular, “first come, first served” basis. Only the signature “brandina” blue and white combination remains from week to week in the store.
The “bottega” concept takes its inspiration from the authentic food and produce bottegas of Italy in which different items were “fresh’ every day and the consumer purchased what was new and available that day.Designer and founder, Marco Morisini said, “The store is designed as a real container of ideas, creativity and style. The spaces will showcase products and ideas that stimulate curiosity, deliver a sensory experience and make all who cross the threshold of the space smile!”
Bob Stec, Passport Brands CEO added, “Brandina the original is a perfect fit for Passport Brands’ premium niche brand strategy. Marco and Barbara have done an amazing job of creating and executing a true lifestyle concept that is fresh, exciting and fun. We believe that Brandina will be a long term life style concept in this country and around the world.”
Passport Brands expects to open the first several stores in second quarter of 2011 in high traffic destination cities around the U.S. The company is also planning the use of e-commerce, pop up stores and mobile retailing to quickly expand the brand.
Brandina the original is the proprietary creation of designer Marco Morisini. Marco was born in Pesaro, Italy. His career includes working for Benetton and the Maestro of image, Oliviero Toscani, along with collaborations with Alberto Ferretti, Pollini, Authier, Iceberg and others. He has also worked creatively on collaborations for Ferrari Ateliers and Maserati.
Passport Brands, Inc.
Passport Brands, Inc. (formerly I.C. Isaacs) is a designer, merchandiser and marketer of upper-end niche branded apparel and accessories sold in leading department and specialty stores. The company operates a disciplined and focused marketing and sourcing platform for a diverse growing portfolio of both licensed and owned brands. U.S. marketed brands currently include the “European Blue Line “ of Marithé & François Girbaud for young men, Brandina The Original, Italian coast inspired unique handbags and accessories, and Flow Society, authentic lacrosse lifestyle gear for young men, women and boys, which is owned by Passport Brands. The company is growing a stable of sustainable niche brands across higher end categories and consumer segments through a combination of their internal merchandising and marketing skills and its financial and logistics partnership with Samsung. For more information please visit the company web site at www.passportbrandsinc.com; www.liveontheflygirbaud.com; www.flowsocietylacrosse.com; www.brandinatheoriginal.com
The information posted in this release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated.
