Avril Lavigne to expand her Abbey Dawn fashion line

Two years after launching her juniors line Abbey Dawn exclusively at the US retailer Kohl's, Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne is expanding her business and will sell items directly to customers via the Web and in boutiques worldwide starting next year.

Abbey Dawn's e-commerce site will go live this Friday, a month before she starts wholesaling her clothing to shops like Trash and Vaudeville in New York and the Blue Banana retail chain in the UK. Lavigne will release monthly mini-collections throughout 2011 and will launch a full range of juniors sportswear, denim, swimsuits, dresses, loungewear, shoes and handbags during spring 2012.

"[Kohl's] was a great way to start my line and a great home for it for two-and-a-half years," Lavigne told Women's Wear Daily. "The thing with me is...I really want my clothes to be available internationally."

By increasing prices and improving the quality of her clothing, Lavigne hopes to attract an older clientele. Her collection for Kohl's had pitted her against other inexpensive celebrity teen fashion lines like Selena Gomez's Dream Out Loud label at Kmart and Miley Cyrus' collaboration with Max Azria that was carried at Wal-Mart.

Retail prices for Abbey Dawn will range from $17.50 (12 euros) for a T-shirt to $60 (45 euros) for a fleece jacket. The line will be priced at 15 to 20 percent more than what it sold for at Kohl's. Women's wear will make up the majority of the line, though men's wear will be carried. Expect to see punk-rock pieces like high heels with a skull print and studded handbags. "The inspiration for my line comes from my personal style," Lavigne said. "I'm designing the things I want... I like stripes and plaid and polka dots and all-over prints of skulls."

The e-commerce site will ship to more than 50 countries, including Japan, China, Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy and the UK. Lavigne says most of her fans are online, making the Web the ideal vehicle for her business.

The 26-year-old recording artist joins the long list of singers before her who have put out clothing lines including Madonna (Material Girl), Justin Timberlake (William Rast), Gwen Stefani (L.A.M.B.), Jennifer Lopez (Sweetface), and Beyoncé (House of Déreon), to name just a few.

http://www.abbeydawn.com/ (Will go live on December 17)