California Apparel News

L-R-G set up shop in 1999 as a clothier for the underground. But in the past year, the Lake Forest, Calif.–based company has set its sights on a market beyond its original, mostly male demographic of hip-hop fans and skateboarders, said designer and co-founder Robert Wright.

That new market will include the sisters, girlfriends, female classmates and co-workers of the original L-R-G fans, Wright said. The company, whose name stands for Lifted Research Group, will introduce its first women’s line, Luxirie, at MAGIC International, which opens Aug. 29 in Las Vegas.

It’s a new challenge for Wright and L-R-G co-founder Jonas Bevacqua, who have spent most of their careers designing menswear. Wright conceded they will not be able to attract the female market with the dark colors and heavy materials that made L-R-G popular with the guys. “I think through color, fabrication and fit, we can be feminine,” Wright said.

Wright said he and Bevacqua knew they did not want to produce a knockoff of their men’s line when they dreamed of producing the women’s collection more than one year ago.

The new vision was one reason why Luxirie co-designer Linda Nguyen said she joined L-R-G this year after working at Obey Clothing, another Orange County streetwear label. “I like the fact that Robert and Jonas were not afraid to try new things like jumpers and overalls,” she said.

Among the changes: The familiar dark-olive camouflage of L-R-G will be traded for purples in Luxirie. Instead of heavy cotton, the women’s line will use a crinkled crepe material.

Charting new waters

Introducing streetwear for women is uncharted territory, said Shane Wallace, vice president of Active Wear, a surf-and-skate retail chain based in Chino, Calif.

“Streetwear is more of a guy’s game,” Wallace said. “Fashion and contemporary brands have done a great job of making flattering styles for girls, but few have attacked girls’ styles for streetwear.”

In the past decade, streetwear companies have offered military- and work clothes–inspired looks that have created an enthusiastic male following. L-R-G earned less than $500,000 at its first trade show, the Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo in San Diego, in 1999 but grew 200 percent in 2003 and 400 percent in 2004. Wright and Bevacqua declined to state the company’s revenues.

Other companies have tried making women’s streetwear.Los Angeles–based contemporary label Da-Nang sells streetwear-friendly looks such as cargo pants and camouflage. Streetwear labels such as Santa Ana, Calif.–based Obey Clothing and Irvine, Calif.–based Stussy also introduced women’s lines in the past two years.

Luxirie will feature many of the same military, sportswear and reggae-music influences that made L-R-G popular. Yet the 60-piece line will also offer contemporary touches, including embroidered jeans, jumpers and activewear tops with halter silhouettes.

Luxirie will also cast a whimsical eye toward the premium denim market. The collection will include “Diamond Girl,” a $1,000 denim jean with diamond studs on the pockets, waistbands and belt loops. The pants will be splattered with 24-carat gold paint. Wright said the company will only produce 10 pairs.

The L-R-G founders said they did not have the time or money to focus beyond menswear when they started their company in a 400-square-foot showroom in Santa Ana. But time and opportunity opened up in the past 18 months. Wright and Bevacqua recently hired more than 20 people, bringing their total number of employees to 35. The new jobs range from accounting and warehouse positions to marketing, production and design posts. In August, the company moved to a 38,000-square-foot complex with an 8,000-square-foot mezzanine in Lake Forest.

Wright said the company will spend more than $500,000 to launch Luxirie and will hire two sales representatives for the new line. He and Bevacqua were still finalizing plans to distribute the new line as of press time, but Wright said their strategy will include introducing Luxirie to women’s boutiques. L-R-G menswear, which ranges from crisp woven shirts to wool skateboarder hats, is in more than 500 doors in the United States, including Active Ride, The Closet, Up Against The Wall, Zumiez and Macy’s Men’s Store.

For L-R-G, selling Luxirie in women’s boutiques means more than just accessing a new market; it is also one step toward achieving the ultimate goal for the company.

“We want to make clothes that [rapper] Kanye West and a business executive would wear,” Wright said. “We want to be a household name like Polo.”