But the dynamic Winser wasted no time. The next day she moved into the Regent Street store — the staff quickly carved out some space in the upstairs archive room for her. The switch enabled her to start connecting with customers on the shop floor, and decide how to save the brand.

It helped that she'd been in this situation before. Winser was lured to Aquascutum from the British brand Pringle, which she helped convert from a producer of dowdy golfwear into a luxury brand. She even was awarded an Order of the British Empire honor from Queen Elizabeth II for her work there.

And, just as at Pringle, Winser quickly grabbed the Aquascutum organization by its boot straps and gave it a firm shake-up. Over the past year, she's been overhauling the brand to mold it into a global luxury goods company.

Aquascutum still does the bulk of its business in Japan and the U.K., and its biggest category is men's wear, but Winser is setting out to change all that. In addition to pulling the design, product, logistics, marketing and pricing under one roof, she's begun the move into new markets — including the U.S. — inked licenses, launched new collections, hired an accessories designer and unveiled an ad campaign starring Gisele Bündchen and Jamie Dornan.

"We haven't just done some icing," she said, sitting in her dark, wood-paneled office, which still houses some of the company's extensive archives. "We are building a substantial, global luxury brand from a top-quality name with a wonderful heritage. For the first time, we're designing for a global market, and we are actively thinking about our customers' lifestyles and needs."

That is why the relaunch at Bergdorf Goodman is so important to the brand. Aquascutum's last New York store closed in 2000, but Winser said the market has the potential to generate at least 20 percent of overall business over the next two to three years. She plans to open a flagship in New York down the road.

The fabrics in the Vintage collection include napa leather, duchesse satin and double cashmere, and the styles are sexy and dramatic. The liquid, belted trenches look more like dressing gowns, while the trenchcoat dresses are low-cut and curvy.