Toku: Bringing Goodness to Contemporary Menswea
Beatrix Tafoya entered the Los Angeles contemporary menswear industry with the idea of making men’s garments with great styling—but without the designer prices. The result is Toku, which launched for Fall and will be exhibiting at MAGIC. The name Toku means “goodness” or “good quality” in Japanese.
“I am never satisfied with what works, and that is what sets Toku apart from other lines,” said Tafoya. “People will always find something new here and that is very exciting.”
Tafoya describes the line as “colorful and exciting,” adding, “Each garment stands on it’s own and has an interesting detail to it. It’s not just a stupid shirt; it has some sort of embroidering detail or textured stitching.”
The line consists of tops and bottoms and a recently launched collection of accessories that consists of belts, wallets, scarves for fall and a satchel. According to Tafoya, the reception for the collection has been very good.
“We just shipped it two weeks ago and it’s on fire,” she said. “People are reordering already. Its 105 degrees in Manhattan and people want more. It’s retailing very well.”
Some of the stores Toku is delivering to include Fred Segal Santa Monica, Villains in San Francisco, Urban Guerilla in Irvine, Calif., and Detour in Milwaukee.
Tafoya said that she would be bringing her Spring 2002 collection to MAGIC.
“[We’ll be showing] tops with details, a lot of novelty stitching, textured yarns, exposed seams and stressing on linen—-we have a lot of linen in the line for Spring and a lot of stripes,” she noted.
Also included in the Spring collection are printed sweaters carried over from Fall.
Tafoya said that she always takes notice of what others are doing so that she can take Toku in a different direction.
“Toku is a very different line,” she said. “Every garment stands apart. Everybody is showing basics because of the recession, but it’s been fun to use basic stitches with interesting yarns. For Spring, you’ll have jerseys, but we’ll use interesting yarns to make the fabric. We have blends of micro-models and it makes the line good.”
Toku will be exhibiting in MAGIC booth #8619. For more information, call (323) 583-1813.
