Heading Back to Camp

Friday, July 16, 2004

Eighties nostalgia with California attitude. That’s the design philosophy behind Camp Beverly Hills, which blends ’80s-inspired style with 21st century casual chic. The popular T-shirt and sweats line, which had its first run in the ’80s, relaunched in March and is on track to earn more than $6 million in sales this year, according to new owners Adina Levin and Raquel Krouse.

The two, who have been best friends since high school, were inspired to relaunch Camp Beverly Hills after spending a day going through old clothes and reminiscing about the line.

“Adina and I always loved Camp Beverly Hills— it was our favorite brand when we were kids,” Krouse said. “We came across this tattered Camp Beverly Hills shirt, and it just brought back the most incredible memories from an amazing time in our lives. We knew we’d want to wear it again, and we thought for sure other people would, too.”

Krouse and Levin, who have owned businesses together in the past, acquired the license for the line and moved from New York to Los Angeles, where they felt Camp Beverly Hills needed to be manufactured, sold and produced. “It just wouldn’t make sense any other way,” Krouse said.

“We love the fact that there is so much amazing manufacturing going on in Los Angeles,” Levin added. “It’s a little fashion mecca. It’s very cool and inspirational. I don’t know if people are aware of how truly amazing the garment industry is in downtown L.A. and how many opportunities there are to manufacture.”

Levin and Krouse brought in designer Linda Meltzer and Simply Chic showroom president Lisa Shaller to give the line a makeover. Meltzer helped invent the classic baby tee in the early ’90s, and Shaller helped build brands Juicy Couture and Hard Candy, updated the line for today’s customer.

“We’re still keeping with a California-comfortable silhouette,” Meltzer said. “It’s all about being comfortable and being sexy. The sexy part, that’s something that I’ve always done—take traditional bodies and sexy them up.”

The line still bears the classic bamboo lettering and palm-tree logo, which has found as much popularity today as it did back in the ’80s.

“Camp Beverly Hills is really about fun and friendship and good times, and the logo elicits incredible emotion from people,” Krouse said. “It’s really stood the test of time.”

The pieces have a worn-in, washed look and come in today’s hottest cuts. Although Krouse and Levin plan to maintain the original feeling of Camp Beverly Hills, they are pushing the boundaries by developing innovative styles in fleece and creating worn-in fabrics and washes, including a silk wash that softens garments. They have also used deconstructed details, including raw and frayed edges and holes, to add to the vintage feeling.

Popular colors include bright shades of hot pink, teal, turquoise, orange and yellow; softer hues such as baby pink; and neutral heather gray, white and black.

Updated styles include sexy offthe- shoulder, loosely fitted and hooded sweat shirts; baby tees; ponchos; sweat pants with elastic bottoms; miniskirts; shorts; and sweat-pant knickers. The line also offers tanks, short- and longsleeved T-shirts, thermals, hoodies, cuffed leggings, long johns, bloomer and trapdoor terry pajamas, booties, and thongs. Accessories and a small men’s line, first launched at the Scoop boutique in New York, round out the collection. Krouse and Levin plan to launch a full men’s line in the Spring.

The two will develop select merchandise, including specialty pieces for newborns and pets, for online sales. The line is carried in the Los Angeles area at Ron Herman stores, Intuition, Elyse Walker, Lisa Kline, Picket Fences & Petticoats, Trio and Planet Blue; in New York at Scoop, Henri Bendel and Bergdorf Goodman; and nationwide at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue stores.