SoCal's New Denim Doctors
Denim continues to sell briskly into Holiday and Spring, with new lines launching across Southern California to fit every niche of the market. Among the offerings: surplus-style jeans with an international flavor, sleek jeans that enhance a woman’s curves and high-end vintage-inspired favorites.
California Born
Leslie Ungar, former president of Apple Bottoms, a line by music artist Nelly, launched her own label for Fall 2005. Called California Born, the line pays the same rear-view attention as Apple Bottoms did to women with curvaceous figures.
Ungar attributes much of the flattering fit to the fabric. The Torrance, Calif.–based label’s cotton/ Lycra–blend denim has a four-way stretch that helps the jeans stay in place and eliminates the need to tug or pull up the waistband throughout the day.
“Normal denim only stretches side to side. Our denim stretches up, down and side to side. The denim moves with your body,” Ungar said. She trademarked the fabric, used exclusively by California Born, under the name Second Skin Denim.
Ungar and her business partner, Tessia Thomas, originally named the label CB Brand and had separate collections under the brand name. But they recently decided to change the name of the line to California Born and streamline the divisions into one collection. Styles include basic, clean-washed five-pocket jeans with a signature back pocket designed to boost the rear’s appearance; edgy and embellished looks with gold piping, gold beads and painting embellishment; and an “LA Dusk” strapless floor-length denim dress. Wholesale price points range from $91 to $150.
The brand will launch a juniors collection for Summer 2006 ($55 to $75 wholesale), which will be consistent with the sassy, edgy and embellished contemporary styles but with a twist for a younger audience.
For more information, call (310) 379-0333.
Trade
Lead designer Peter Lang sought international inspiration for the launch of his denim label,Trade. Lang found a team of denim designers in the Netherlands, which he called the “denim capital,” to help him develop the look of Trade. His idea was to show how cultures can benefit by trading products and ideas.
Trade’s first two collections will be designed in the Netherlands, but Lang will move the design to Tokyo for Fall 2006.
“There’s stuff that’s happening overseas that we know nothing about and vice versa,” said Lang, adding that it was “a breath of fresh air” to work with designers who had culturally different tastes and styles.
Though the base of inspiration moves from port to port, Trade’s distribution and operations share an office with Farmer jeans in Los Angeles.
The denim styles go back to basics, with mismatched vintage cargo buttons instead of hardware, recycled camouflage fabric for pocket lining and single stitching reminiscent of tailor-made trousers. Because Lang values quality raw denim, the denim washes are not severely distressed.
Wholesale price points range from $55 to $75 for men’s and women’s jeans. Lang said the jeans, selling for $120 retail, bridge a gap in the market for mid-level priced jeans.
For more information, call the Faith and More showroom, located in suite 211B of the Cooper Design Space, at (213) 624-9433.
Hollywood Trading Co.
The Hollywood Trading Co. store at Fred Segal in Santa Monica, Calif., knows jeans. The store—which carries premium denim labels such as Rogan, Blue Blood, Ever, Dark Shadow by Rick Owens and Levi’s Vintage Classics—has added its own denim and T-shirt label to the roster this Fall.
“Our store is known for selecting and presenting very exclusive denim collections,” co-owner Alonzo Ester said. “Having our denim collection debut from [the store] is an extension of that [reputation].”
Both the T-shirt and denim lines are sold exclusively in HTC stores and boutiques in Tokyo; Paris; and Milan, Italy. Ester said he plans to open up domestic wholesale for Fall 2006 to key stores and have a full launch in Spring 2007. The men’s and women’s jeans retail from $275 to $525.
Ester collaborated with co-owner Zip Stevenson—one of the founders of Denim Doctors, a store that sells vintage denim and specializes in denim alteration and repair in Los Angeles—to develop HTC’s vintage-inspired styles with utility details.
Stevenson called upon his collection of vintage denim and early American workwear jeans for inspiration. Styles range from lightly distressed to aggressively ripped and repaired with patches. Embellishment includes back pocket studs, leather belt straps and vintage buttons.
For more information, call HTC at (310) 451-9002.
