Anne Klein II Taps Chiat/Day as Ad Agency

Anne Klein II has hired a new tailor for its ads--Chiat/Day.

On Friday, the New York maker of designer sportswear handed its $3-million advertising business to the New York office of the Venice-based ad firm Chiat/Day. The ad firm’s New York office on Friday also won the $3-million Soho Natural sparkling waters business, a regional New York beverage firm.

The two account wins come just one week after the two West Coast offices of Chiat/Day lost the ad business for Yamaha motorcycles and California Cooler wine coolers.

“The advertisements we do for Anne Klein II will be as distinctive as our Reebok ads,” said Jane Newman, president and chief executive officer of Chiat/Day’s New York office. The agency’s Reebok ads--which feature near-surrealistic scenes of people wearing Reebok athletic shoes--have been both praised and ridiculed within the industry.

Eye-Catching Model

Gayle Miller, president of Anne Klein II, said the company selected Chiat/Day because it is “one of the original ‘cutting edge’ advertising agencies.” The new ad campaign is expected to break in March.

For more than four years, the New York ad firm Lord, Geller, Federico, Einstein has created the Anne Klein II ads.