Kroger + Fashion. It’s happening. On Monday, Kroger announced that it has partnered with designer Joe Mimran (the man behind the Club Monaco and Joe Fresh brands) to create its own apparel brand, Dip. The brand will launch with Men’s, Women’s, Juniors, Kids, and Baby lines and initially find its way into 300 Kroger and Fred Meyer stores this fall.

As a piece of Kroger’s ongoing transformation project, Restock Kroger, the Dip brand will streamline Kroger’s previously low-profile apparel business, replacing more than a dozen of the company’s private-label clothing brands.

Kroger’s Senior VP of Merchandising, Robert Clark, offered this by way of positioning: “We know customers want to quickly pop in and out of the apparel department, not spend hours browsing. Great style you can just grab, go, and enjoy, at a great price; that’s the promise. This is an invitation to ‘Dip into simple. Dip into style.'” We can only hope that Mr. Clark offered that invitation out loud and didn’t simply type the statement!

As Kroger begins a move into the apparel space, all current subscribers to our Apparel Specialty Stores PLUS will have access to the full Kroger Co. profile, including personnel and digital contact information, beginning Friday, July 13.