California Apparel News

New urban labels Royal B’s and L.R. Lady Royalty will debut at MAGIC International this month with the usual fanfare of new lines—and with the experience and expertise of Los Angeles designer Estevan Ramos.

New Image Apparel, a newly launched subsidiary of Corona, Calif.–based Royal Blunts Inc., an 8-year-old company that manufactures specialty tobacco products, tapped Ramos to help the company launch the new apparel lines, which incorporate fashion-forward trends in urban-lifestyle collections.

The Spring collections will include about 70 pieces, including casual denim, T-shirts and athletic sweats as well as dressier pieces in linen. For Fall, the company plans to introduce leather pieces, according to New Image Vice President Michael Chapman, who is overseeing the launch of the collections.

“It’s a Royal Blunt lifestyle,” Chapman said, adding that some of the pieces in the lines have a contemporary resort look similar to that of Tommy Bahama. “Our target customer [ranges] from people in the hip-hop community and the extreme-games community all the way up to people that like to lounge out at vacation places.”

At press time, New Image was still costing the collections.

Urban streetwear is a new category for Ramos, who recently launched a vintage-inspired men’s swim line. The local designer is best known for his sexy, tailored silhouettes, which often come in denim and leather.

“I’m in a different market than I’m used to— I’m usually in the women’s contemporary and swim, and when you’re in a new market, you have to wear the hat of that market,” he said.

To help him understand the urban market, Chapman and the New Image team gave Ramos a crash course.

“They call it urban lifestyle—it’s not hiphop, and it’s not urban sportswear,” Ramos explained. “It’s something you could wear to a wedding, or you could wear it poolside.”

For Chapman and the New Image team, Ramos’ experience in the industry is an invaluable asset. Before launching his own line, Ramos designed for labels such as Steel Jeans, B.U.M. Equipment and L.A. Gear.

Ramos and Chapman looked to high-end labels such as Gucci and Prada for inspiration and then created the lines, paying close attention to the fit. For the men’s line, Chapman suggested a looser fit than Gucci’s and Prada’s slim silhouettes.

“I’m the type of person where I might get a pair of Gucci pants, and I might get it oversize— I like my pants to fit loose,” Chapman explained. “It’s just my lifestyle, how I might rock it.”

For the women’s line, Ramos drew from his own collection’s signature body-skimming fit—and then turned it up a notch.

“The women’s line is ultra-sexy,” he said.

To give the line its own distinctive look, Ramos said he fused high-end trends with some details culled from urban-apparel beginnings. For example, Ramos said he wanted the denim to have the raw, unwashed look of early urban lines such as Cross Colors.

“That’s what the whole urban market is about—taking what the high-end is doing to the streetwear level,” he said.

Ramos will help launch the New Image collections at MAGIC and then will return his focus to his swimwear line and his Estevan Ramos collection.

The Royal B’s and L.R. Lady Royalty lines will be featured in the Streetwear section of MAGIC’s men’s show. For more information, call (888) 898-6879. —Alison A. Nieder