Picture Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, staring through the Tiffany window in a black Givenchy dress with her coffee and pastry. Now swap her out for a guy in a black Givenchy t-shirt and you’ll have a sense of Tiffany’s new target customer.
The jewelry brand announced the launch of its first full men’s collection today. Though Tiffany has sold some items for guys in the past (like the occasional cufflink, ring, and money clip), this new offering spans nearly 100 different designs across jewelry, home goods, and other accessories. Think stereotypically macho stuff remade as luxury goods, such as sterling silver necklaces that resemble military dog tags, a silver-encased compass, and a cocktail mixer in crystal and sterling silver.
The collection will also get its own floor space in Tiffany’s stores, where it’ll range range from about $200 to $15,000 for the jewelry and as high as $75,000 for the most expensive home goods and accessories.
Reed Krakoff, Tiffany’s chief artistic officer, said he’s thought about launching a men’s collection since joining the brand in 2017. “I feel like Tiffany is the only American luxury brand that has credibility in making men’s jewelry, all the way up to men’s fine jewelry,” he said. “It felt like such a natural and obvious opportunity to give the customer that’s visiting Tiffany something new.”
The conventional image of the Tiffany customer may be a woman, but Krakoff told the Associated Press that actually half of them are men, mostly buying women’s jewelry. The idea is that they’ll now have more products to choose from if they’re shopping for themselves, which a growing number probably are. According to data from market research provider Euromonitor International, sales of men’s luxury fine jewelry rose nearly 22% between 2013 and 2018, reaching roughly $5.8 billion. The firm projects those sales will increase to about $6.6 billion by 2023.
Tiffany could use any boost in sales that men’s products might bring. In recent quarters, it hasn’t performed up to its targets, in part because of a sharp decline in sales to tourists, especially those from China.
Krakoff’s long-term vision for the company includes appealing to younger shoppers and stripping away some of the stuffiness and formality of fine jewelry, all while keeping its patented high-end materials and craftsmanship. The men’s collection is very much in line with those goals.