Capital-Mercury Apparel has been a major clothing licensee for decades for brands sold at such department stores as Macy’s and Kohl’s. In 2003, V.P. of sales and marketing Doug Pecore saw an opportunity to launch a proprietary brand for the first time in the company’s history. He hammered out the target audience, brand strategy and price point, and presented us with a storyboard that expressed the brand image he envisioned, a proposed name and a handful of product concepts.

His goal was to tap into the hip “metrosexual” market with a brand that would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Hugo Boss and Kenneth Cole but at a much more affordable price. The name he conceived of was NYNE, standing for “new youth, new energy.” We instead proposed a marketing hook that revolved around “nyne lives.” Our concept was that NYNE clothes are suited for every aspect of a guy’s life, whether it be his family life, work life, social life, love life, night life, public life, fantasy life or afterlife—“Because eternity is a very, very long time.” Each life was accompanied by one of these declarations, which allowed us to weave a narrative and a reason-to-be into an otherwise very stylized fashion image.

In an effort to make this new brand resonate with customers, we made the hang tag fold out as a miniature booklet that tells the NYNE lives story. It’s an entertaining way to make the brand memorable. NYNE’s brand architecture is graphically restrained, clean and modern—high-end in look but not in price. The brand first hit retail floors in March 2005 and has been flying out the door ever since. It is already in 1,500 stores and generated $5 million worth of business in the first six months.