Dungarees Turns 13
Gary Friedman had a hunch that a boutique dedicated to premium jeans would be a good business idea—for a little while. On Aug. 12, his employees and friends threw him a surprise 13th anniversary party at his denim store, Dungarees, at 12230 Ventura Blvd., in Los Angeles’ Studio City.
In 1991, Friedman sold European denim, including Replay, Liberto, Chipie and Rivet. Now half of his retail mix is made up of American designers, and the other half is European. American designers include Trovata of Costa Mesa, Calif., and Los Angeles’ Rock & Republic. European lines include Italy’s Diesel and Dutch brands G-Star and Blue Blood. Price points range from $35 for T-shirts to $100 to $250 for jeans at this 1,800-square-foot boutique.
Friedman, whose dad worked as a jobber in New York’s garment district, reflected on the first 13 years of his retail business and was struck by how much business can change. He said one new development is that many men are shopping for fashion. More than 40 percent of his shoppers are men and 60 percent are women, he said.
Other aspects of his business are as reliable as an old, comfortable pair of jeans.
“When I was a kid in the 1960s, I wore low-rise bell-bottoms.” Friedman said, wearing a pair of Paper Denim & Cloth jeans that just happened to be cut with a low rise in a bell-bottom silhouette. “Fashion just rolls around and comes back.” —Andrew Asch
