Talbots is on the move again after years of being among the sleepier brands in retail.

A new team formed within the past year has reworked the collection; reinvented core, legacy styles, and is giving Talbots a more demonstrative voice in its digital marketing, catalogues and stores. They’re touting trends each season without being trendy, and pointing out how many of Talbots classic styles — the “Charming Cardigan,” the button-down “Perfect Shirt” or “Polished Crepe Pant” — are suitable for the office, a night out or casual occasions. Different ways to wear the same Talbots items, such as showing the “Perfect Shirt” with its eased, relaxed fit, under a blazer or tucked in a denim jean, are also given a spotlight.

“Over the last year, the team sweated over those items — the fit, the fabric, the proportion — and we’re really proud of the way those items show up today,” said Barbara Wagner, Talbots’ brand president, in an interview with WWD. “These are versatile items that our customers can wear in more ways than one, because we have to serve her from wear-to-work to weekend to dressed up. It’s really a wardrobe of essentials she can rely on and remix, season after season.”

There’s also an effort to be more a part of the fashion conversation, tie in with celebrities and modernize the brand image beyond its more traditional, New England roots. The fall “Talbots Takes Manhattan” campaign was photographed by Ben Watts in SoHo, Central Park and Washington Square Park. Complementing that is a cinematic social series, “More to Explore,” shot by director Beau Sam and themed around friendship and connection.

In February, Talbots’ “American Classics” campaign was launched with top models in Talbots’ refreshed look against the backdrop of northern California. And for the first time, Talbots made some noise during New York Fashion Week on Sept. 10 with a “Café Talbots” event at the Lafayette Grand Café & Bakery in Manhattan’s NoHo district with Niki Taylor (a central figure in Talbots campaigns for 13 years) and actress Justine Lupe. They were joined by members of the media, creators and customers, highlighting, as Wagner said, “Talbots’ refreshed and polished point of view on modern American style.…Fashion week just felt like the right moment to put that evolution on a bigger stage. It’s not a departure from who we are, but it’s really the most confident expression of it yet.”

In another first for the brand, Talbots is partnering with Vox Media and Ina Garten, the famous cook, author and host of the Food Network program “Barefoot Contessa.” Talbots will advertise on Garten’s podcast beginning Oct. 7, and she’s expected to appear in Talbots’ iconic denim shirt which she’s worn for years. (Like WWD, Vox Media is ultimately owned by Penske Media Corp.)

Talbots was founded by the husband-and-wife team Nancy and Rudolf Talbot in 1947 when they opened their first store in Hingham, Mass., where the brand is still based. Talbots was publicly owned when it was bought by private equity firm Sycamore Partners in 2012.

Talbots is now part of Sycamore’s KnitWell Group, a holding company formed in 2023 that includes Ann Taylor, Loft, Chico’s, White House Black Market, Soma, Lane Bryant and Haven Well Within. The formation of the group created opportunities for cost savings, and sharing talent and best practices in product development and other areas. That has been speculation that bringing Sycamore’s specialty retail businesses together is a prelude to a potential sale of the group to another private equity firm, retail company or through an IPO.

Under the KnitWell umbrella, the brands tap into shared functions like finance, IT and HR. According to Wagner, that group structure, as well as financial support from Sycamore, has given the Talbots team “the runway to invest in the brand for the long term, and in moments like our first New York Fashion Week event. It’s really a nice structure that allows the brands to stay focused on the things that matter most — product, the customer and brand expression.”

Wagner has been president of Talbots since March, but has worked at the brand for eight years. Other key members of the team include Alessandra Brunialti, senior vice president and creative director of design, who formerly worked at Lane Bryant, Banana Republic and Calvin Klein, and Bobby Ferrario, chief marketing officer, who previously worked at Orchard Brands, Bebe and New York & Co. Both joined Talbots about a year ago.

“We use the word evolution a lot internally,” Wagner said. “The Talbots DNA, quality, fit, classic American style aren’t changing. It’s how we’re expressing it that feels very refreshed. There’s a more defined fashion pyramid that establishes modern and relevant core product. We call these reinvented core items ‘wardrobe heroes.’” In terms of the styles Talbots wants to highlight the most, the curation is sharper.

Wagner acknowledged Talbots has been one of the industry’s “greatest kept secrets.…I don’t think many people are fully aware of our scale,” but pointed to the brand’s 450 stores, including about 80 outlets, nearly 3 million customers and more than 1 million social media followers. “There’s an engaged and loyal customer base,” Wagner said. “We’re one of the top 10 specialty apparel retailers for our core demographic,” which targets 45- to 65-year-old women with an inclusive size range from petites to plus. While Talbots targets a mature woman, Wagner maintained that different generations shop the brand, and that they’re generally professionals prioritizing value, fit and quality, rather than chasing trends. The prices are considered midtier, ranging from $39.50 for T-shirts, to just over $300 for wool outerwear.

“Over the last 12 months, we’ve effectively doubled our asset creation, when you think about how we’re showing up in digital with new video, telling our stories differently in social and print, and using a segmented approach to the catalogue,” Ferrario said. “A new customer will see a different expression of the brand expression than the core audience.”

Ferrario said Talbots has been “very intentional about moving away from the idea that every asset has to do every job. It’s one brand, but it shouldn’t be one expression everywhere. On social, we can be more aspirational, culturally connected and editorial — you’re trying to stop someone in their feet and give them a point of view. We launched our first social series, ‘More to Explore’ which debuts with each seasonal collection. It’s cinematic and aspirational but also tells a story.”

On talbots.com, he said, the presentation is more about outfitting, product authority and helping customers feel confident in their choices. The catalogue has been reformatted. “It’s less of a transaction channel and more of a brand experience,” Ferrario said.

Between the different channels, “The visual language is consistent, but the storytelling flexes,” he said. “The more we can tailor our creative to be relevant by customer cohort and channel of discovery, the better. It’s something we have made progress on in the past year.”

Asked how the business is performing, Wagner said: “Our customer is really responding to what we’re giving her — this modern expression. She sees classic Talbots in it, but it feels very modern and relevant for today.” KnitWell does not disclose financial details of its brands.

On the brick-and-mortar front, Talbots closed dozens of stores over the last few years but the downsizing has stopped. Executives suggested the possibility of opening stores beginning next year. Stores represent about 50 percent of Talbots’ annual volume, which is said to exceed $1 billion. Talbots.com and the catalogue account for the other half.

For KnitWell, managing and differentiating each of its women’s specialty fashion retailers can be challenging. Asked if Talbots competes with Ann Taylor, which also targets mature women, Wagner replied: “We have looked at that. It’s two very different customers. We do service similar end users from the standpoint of wear to work and more professional attire. We also look at a very similar demographic between Talbots and Chico’s, but Chico’s has a more casual expression.”

And Loft, Wagner said, caters to a younger, more casually attired customer compared to Talbots. “I firmly believe that, at Talbots, we are serving an underserved market, especially with some of the bumpiness that’s been happening in department stores, and contemporary brands charging a lot more for blazers and jeans.”