Brooks Brothers Group has rechristened Carolee Inc., the jewelry subsidiary company it acquired in 2001. Now called Deconic, the brand venture has relaunched with a neatly narrow focus: building and maintaining a stable of high-performing private label and licensed brands in the premium fashion jewelry category.

Deconic’s current private label jewelry business includes Alexis Bittar, which it acquired in 2016, and Carolee. Its licensed jewelry partners include ABS by Allen Schwartz, Trina Turk, and Lois Hill, which signed on with Deconic in August 2017.

Matteo Del Vecchio, who was formerly Brooks Brothers’ chief administrative officer, has stepped into the role of CEO for Deconic, and the Italian-born executive says the venture’s ultimate goal is “to become one of the leading houses for premium fashion jewelry.”

Though Deconic is owned by Brook Brothers Group—and shares in many of its nuts-and-bolts resources, including production and financial services—Del Vecchio says one of the venture’s strengths is its status as an independent company.

Matteo Del Vecchio, the new CEO of Brooks Brothers Group’s jewelry subsidiary, Deconic

“We have a separate office and showroom in Brooklyn, do all our own product design, merchandising, marketing….we have freedom and independence to make our own decisions, but at the same time we do have access to a larger group. It’s really the best of both worlds.”

The CEO says Deconic is looking to expand in the future and may even be open to building a portfolio of fine jewelry brands. But for now, the company is laser-focused on becoming a major player in premium fashion jewelry within the contemporary retail space.

“We want to focus on the premium brands that have potential for omnichannel distribution down the line,” he says. “We’ll be working very closely with our partners as we move forward, especially the luxury department stores and independent jewelers.”

(Top photo: Alexis Bittar earrings, courtesy of Deconic)

Emili Vesilind

JCK Senior Editor