California Apparel News

Grey Ant has been industrious.

The Los Angeles–based label said it will revive its men’s line in Spring 2006, ending a three-year hiatus for customers who have been requesting its saucy streetwear in masculine sizes and fits. It also said it plans to show at ENK International’s Fashion Coterie in New York for the first time in September, a debut that designer Grant Krajecki hopes will boost sales.

“We’re trying to get into the European market,” Krajecki said, noting that the label is currently available in 40 stores in Japan, the United States and Canada.

There is room for growth at Grey Ant, which is run by Krajecki and Natalie Levy, who works with the company’s showroom and retailers. Wholesale orders for Fall 2005 hit nearly $200,000, Krajecki said. “Each season gets a little better,” he noted.

Grey Ant had an auspicious start in 1998. A former costume designer, Krajecki said he began collaborating with stylist Arianne Phillips after his first fashion show. He said Phillips pulled half of his inaugural line for the wardrobe of the cult movie “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” Phillips also selected Grey Ant for the recently published fashion survey book Sample, in which the line is listed among 100 labels and designers, ranging from France’s Balenciaga and Japan’s A Bathing Ape to locals Louis Verdad and Jasmin Shokrian.

Grey Ant eventually participated in Designers & Agents and, through its showroom EM Productions, in New York’s markets. But the previous trade shows were unprofitable for Grey Ant, Krajecki noted. He said he hopes that Coterie will reverse the trend and open new accounts in Europe, Japan and New York.

Krajecki said he also anticipates that the reception to the forthcoming men’s line will be different from those of his previous collections, produced from 1998 to 2003. An early hit with men was a pair of cotton drawstring pants. But Krajecki said it was difficult to weather the economic downturn following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Moreover, the men’s business was unprofitable, and he barely had enough time to fulfill orders for the growing women’s collection. Grey Ant produced its last collection for men in Spring 2003.

Fortunately, times have changed. “There is a demand for [a men’s line] right now,” Krajecki said, adding that, over the past year, retailers in Japan and Los Angeles have been asking where the men’s clothes were.

Alisa Loftin was one of the inquiring retailers. “There is a perfect void in the men’s market, and Grant is the only designer who can take advantage of that,” said the owner of Los Angeles’ Aero & Co. Loftin said she sold through 90 percent of the Grey Ant menswear she previously carried. In the past half year, she noticed a resurgence in menswear sales from shoppers who returned to her fashion-forward boutique at least once every two months. “The guys are so hungry to find anything that is slightly unique and isn’t a hugely mass-produced line,” she said.

Krajecki said he plans to limit the Spring 2006 men’s collection to six styles each of tops and bottoms, including blazers, hooded sweat shirts, shorts and pants. He said T-shirts and denim will be absent from the line because they already saturate the market. The color palette will emphasize light gray, canary yellow, dirty peach, green, navy and off-white, he said. The men’s line will be priced comparably to the women’s, which wholesales from $75 to $300.

Some designs will be identical for men and women. For instance, one minimalist blazer in a light, worn cotton will have a simple cut and a lining that features bright prints or African fabric. The lapels will turn into the front, Krajecki said. “It’s odd,” he admitted.

The new men’s collection also will complement the women’s offerings for Spring 2006, which will include cotton dresses and prints featuring geometric shapes, batik and bright colors such as electric blue and silver.

“I’ve been wanting to do [menswear] for a year, but I haven’t been able to pull it together,” Krajecki said. “I forced myself to do it this time.”