Linea by Louis Dell'Olio

[FiddleDeeDee]

I discovered Linea line years ago and it was often my go-to for professional wear. My casual look is tailored/classic so there too, the line worked very well plus, it mixed beautifully with higher end/cost items and made my Walmart pieces look expensive. 

That said, the last time I bought any Linea was the year he featured the long red Trench Coat. After that, nothing appealed to me. For the most part, it reminded me of casual cruise wear with a few classic work items thrown in and lots of costume jewelry. I went from buying 20 pieces or so (I'd buy the WK Turtleneck in every color that was flattering to me; same with the skirt and cardigan, for example) to nothing at all. Yet, his items always sold out and I often wondered why his WK items were a staple in classic colors year round.

In-house brands will always be favored because they mean a low rate of investment and a high rate of return; always. Those are the items I see All. The. Time on QVC and they don't interest me any way for many reasons. I also noticed how many new brands use QVC as a launching board to test the waters and once they do well they're gone. Some fail and for some reason, they stick around a long time with their items rarely going down all that much in clearance. To me it's a "use them for all you can and then move on to the next one" mentality here. I remember enjoying the shows back in the day but now....haven't watched one in I don't know how long. 

Linea is a line that will truly be missed by those who have good taste and mocked by those who don't. 

[Barbara in Virginia]

I think what Louis said about profitability is that HE and Elaine were not making any money as they had dropped their commissions so low in order to keep the line going.  QVC was getting their profits. I suspected that for a long time.  At least that is my understanding.

Louis and Elaine looked into producing Whisper Knit sweaters and Super Ponte pants to sell independently but decided that it wouldn't be feasable because of the amount of minimum orders that would be required of them for production. 

Elaine had been producing other lines of garments sold on QVC, those of higher quality, but those, too, were being phased out/eliminated.  She would have very little left and nothing after the end of 2021.  Neither she nor Louis had wanted to retire.