Ready-to-wear brand BCBG Max Azria is partnering with luxury lingerie business Cosabella for an assortment of lingerie, innerwear and sleepwear. 

To celebrate the launch, actress Ireland Baldwin — daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger — will model the 15-piece inaugural collection, which includes sleepwear, such as robes and rompers, bras, underwear, bodysuits and other lingerie. 

“Everything is very sleek, ’90s-driven and solutions-based,” Guido Campello, co-chief executive officer and creative director of Cosabella, told WWD. “It feels very fashion-driven, as opposed to just fun and colorful. It’s just this beautiful feminine form, but still very modern.”

The collection is available exclusively on bcbg.com. The women’s ready-to-wear and accessories brand, which is owned by parent company Marquee Brands, currently offers a small selection of its own label innerwear. But Diane Bekhor, senior vice president of BCBG Group, said most of it is sold in packs and available only in stores. The partnership with Cosabella offers a larger assortment of lingerie and innerwear. 

“This is really just a different tier for us,” Bekhor explained. “We want to provide the BCBG woman with everything she needs, from head to toe, for all special moments in her life. That could be a dress, or a working occasion, or loungewear that she wears to make her feel beautiful and confident when she’s at home. The partnership with Cosabella just makes sense; it feels like a natural extension. Because now we have the ability, with someone like Cosabella, to make beautifully designed lingerie to wear underneath those dresses. 

“And Cosabella is the best in class in what they do,” she continued. “They have feminine, timeless designs that really evoke confidence and individuality for every woman. We’re very aligned with that.” 

That’s partially why the two brands decided to cast Baldwin as the face of the holiday campaign. 

“[Ireland Baldwin] is very outspoken about body positivity,” Bekhor said. “After struggling with eating disorders, she’s learned to embrace her body and she encourages other women to do the same. And we want BCBG Max Azria and Cosabella product to make women feel beautiful and confident in their bodies. And, of course, a little sexy.” 

The BCBG x Cosabella collection is part of a long-term partnership between the two brands, starting with the first drop this month and the second drop ahead of Valentine’s Day. Prices range from $20 to $198 apiece and come in sizes XS to XL. 

The collaboration is also part of both brands’ greater growth strategies. Bekhor said BCBG will continue to offer exclusives online by way of its e-commerce shop, while Cosabella continues to roll out the collaborations with other retailers. 

This month, both Cosabella and independent lingerie boutique Journelle — which is owned by Campello and his wife Sapna Palep — are adding men’s basics and innerwear to the roster, while also expanding their existing maternity lingerie offerings. 

In addition, Cosabella partnered with Free People, which is owned by Urban Outfitters Inc., last February on a line of DD+ bralettes. The lingerie retailer has previously partnered with other names in the Urban Outfitters portfolio, including the nameplate brand and Anthropologie, for various collections. 

In March, Cosabella expanded into beauty, introducing a fragrance collaboration with Los Angeles-based perfumery Litoralle Aromatica, followed by Cosabella’s expansion into swimwear over the summer.  

Campello added that there are more collaborations on the way. 

“Cosabella has always been a partner for brands that are looking to reinvent and build into the intimates space,” he explained. “We’re able to really help create solutions and designs that benefit brands very specific to the looks and what they’re trying to accomplish. With BCBG, specifically, where it’s driving [growth] and the woman that it’s driving toward, I think there’s an opportunity there collaboratively, with the brand, for that woman. 

“But the biggest thing again is that we were born as a ’90s brand. Cosabella really came into its own in the ’90s,” said Campello, referring to the company started by his parents, Valeria and Ugo Campello, in 1983. “I grew up with BCBG. It’s part of the trends that I’ve always followed and its original founding team I have worked with conceptually in the past. I was really excited to see that the brand is having a rebirth; it really is coming back with a great image. So the timing is perfect with BCBG in particular. And we’re always going to look to build in that space to find other brands with that kind of heritage. I get nostalgic about brands. And BCBG is one of them.”