Rag Couture Launches
Los Angeles-based Tag Rag is no more. The junior collection has been shuttered and replaced with a more contemporary collection called Rag Couture, according to Orly Dahan, co-owner of the company.
The new denim-based collection debuted during Los Angeles Fall II/Holiday Market at the Focus show in the California Market Center’s Fashion Theater (see related story, page 1). The Fall line, with wholesale prices between $24 and $50, includes such novelty denim items as fitted jackets and body-skimming pants. The denim pieces are dirty-washed, printed or patched with other fabrics such as tapestry. The collection also includes such activewear pieces as velour track suits and raw-edge sweats with denim trim.
Dahan said that as the junior business became fiercely price-competitive and it was difficult to continue producing the line locally, he began thinking about shifting to the contemporary business.
“We had two things to do—either jump on the bandwagon and sell budget or go the other way around,” he said. “We had to make a choice where we wanted to be and we decided to go a little better.”
Plus, Dahan said he was encouraged by the success of his other contemporary lines, including Fiona London, which launched last year.
However, Rag Couture will continue to be the main focus of the company, Dahan said, adding that plans are underway to move the line to a fifth-floor showroom in the California Market Center.
The evolution of the company began several years ago when the company closed its girls’ division. The young men’s division shuttered about a year and a half ago, when the market became very narrowly focused on lifestyle, Dahan said.
“Young men’s became very urban and that’s not what we are,” he explained. “If I had known then what I know now, I would still have a men’s line. I should have gone better, more contemporary.”
Still, Dahan was philosophical about the recent changes in his company.“
You have to reinvent yourself or you get stale,” he said. —Alison A. Nieder
