JC Penny LogoOne of my favorite blogs on the Internet is the Namewire blog, written by Bill Lozito at Strategic Name Development.  The other day, Bill wrote an article about Ralph Lauren’s just-launched collaboration with JC Penney (via the Ralph Lauren American Living brand).Just like Martha Stewart at K-Mart and about a billion other designers working with Target, this move doesn’t look like it will hurt Lauren or his brand.  As Bill points out, the brand name (American Living) is clearly positioned as something other than the “real” Ralph Lauren but still captures much of the brand mystique that is distinctly his.

You can’t downplay the importance of the very words selected here.  “American Living” has an authentic feel to it that makes sense with what we understand Ralph Lauren.

Don’t be surprised by this, though.  The fact is, Lauren is just now getting in on a trend with JC Penny that has served some other designers very well.  The store already features Liz Claiborne and Chris Madden.  Private branding inside discount stores like Penny’s, K-Mart and Target is becoming a very big business.

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