California Apparel News

Canadian-born identical twin brothers Chip and Pepper Foster recently added a new denim line, Chip & Pepper, to their long list of endeavors, which includes hosting “The Look for Less,” a weekly cable television show on the Style Network; and running their apparel label Golf Punk and its store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.

Veterans of the Canadian clothing industry, the twins ran a successful apparel label in the ’80s under the Chip & Pepper brand before moving to Los Angeles in the early 1990s. They soon began hosting their own cartoon show, “Chip & Pepper’s Cartoon Madness,” on NBC.

In 1995, they began making their own Golf Punk line for young men and juniors and opened the Golf Punk store on Melrose. The two also sold vintage shirts and jeans as well as Levi’s, which they eventually started reconstructing themselves.

The twins’ careers have unfolded in a whirlwind of seemingly random entrepreneurial success, with one gig leading effortlessly to the next—thanks to their hyperkinetic and thoroughly entertaining way of relating to people.

A pair of vintage jeans from the early 1900s inspired the brothers to launch their own line of vintage-inspired denim under the Chip & Pepper label. The jeans are made with authentic vintage denim and have special handcrafted washes. They have a sexy, relaxed “California vintage” fit, with lower rises than most other jeans.

“We’re selling classic denim,” said Chip. “These are the keepers. They never go out of style.”

The brothers number each pair of jeans and “go the extra mile with details,” which includes high-end hardware from Italy.

Many of their styles are inspired by the Lake of the Woods, their Canadian childhood vacation spot, and the name appears on some of the line’s T-shirts and on the brass rivets of the jeans. While growing up in Canada, one of their jobs was catching chickens on a chicken farm, so they named one of their hottest washes “Chicken Catcher” after the type of jeans worn by the farm workers, explained Pepper.

“The guys that used to work there and run the farm always had the best jeans—chicken catchers,” he said. “We always wanted them.”

The line features seven men’s styles and six women’s styles, and the duo have more looks in the works. All the rises, including those of the men’s jeans, are lower than those of most other lines.

The best-selling men’s jean is the “Tuck,” a five-pocket style with twisted seams, the hot wash, and a 10-inch front and 14.5-inch back. The most popular women’s style is the “Traveler,” which has a super-low rise, no waistband, flared bottoms and three different washes.

Both the women’s and men’s lines include sweat shirts and rock-inspired T-shirts. In addition, the women’s line features skirts and a motorcycle jacket, and the men’s line includes long-sleeved T-shirts.

For Spring, Chip & Pepper will of fer a new group of vintageinspired T-shirts, as well as bottoms in stretch-cotton twill.

Wholesale prices will run from $70 to $110 for jeans, $60 to $80 for skirts, and $25 to $28 for short- and long-sleeved T-shirts. Sweat shirts will wholesale for $42, women’s motorcycle jackets for $100 and trucker hats for $15.

The line already has a celebrity following, including Sarah Jessica Parker, who wore a pair of Chip & Pepper jeans on a recent episode of “Sex and the City.”

It was veteran retailer Ron Herman who urged the two to take their engaging personal style on the road to sell the line themselves. They followed this advice and opened their first 40 doors. “Ron Herman was a huge inspiration in what we did,” said Pepper.

The line is currently carried in Los Angeles at Ron Herman at Fred Segal Melrose, Madison and Beige; in New York at Atrium and Scoop; in Barneys New Yorkin Los Angeles and New York and at other specialty boutiques nationwide.

West Coast buyers can call Kay Sides or Brigette Hassan at (213) 532-8818 or visit them at the Hatch Showroom in suite 1002 of The New Mart in downtown Los Angeles. East Coast buyers can contact Keith Nuss of the Latelier showroom at (212) 827-0010. —N. Jayne Seward