William Rast Sets Up Shop

The struggling retail market isn't keeping Justin Timberlake from opening his first standalone store for the clothing line William Rast, which he co-founded with Trace Ayala. According to Women's Wear Daily, the label "is expected to turn a profit this year and has plans to open some 40 boutiques over the next several years, with three leases already signed." The first will be Westfield Century City (an outdoor mall packing everything from Zara and Houston's to Bloomingdales) in Timberlake's hometown of Los Angeles. Regardless of whether or not you're a fan of the line, Timberlake deserves some respect for being one of the few celebrity fashion designers to keep their line afloat amid the recession (ahem, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lauren Conrad, et al).

But according to a recent interview Timberlake and Ayala did with the Wall Street Journal on Fashion’s Night Out in NYC, they’re far from getting ahead of themselves. “Our goal is a small level of success, and we are happy to have it. We feel we’ve made the right steps to ensure we can stick around for a long time. We are not looking to cash in,” Timberlake says. And while William Rast sat out SS10 presentations in New York this fall, don’t count them out for next New York Fashion Week. “In the turmoil of the industry, doing a fashion show is like throwing something at the wind. In this environment I don’t think it makes sense,” says Colin Dyne, William Rast’s Chief Executive. “For fall 2010 we will be there.”