Petro Premieres Moderate-Priced Denim Line
A new player is entering the premium-at-a-price denim market.
Petro Jeans is the latest company aiming to offer premium aesthetics at retail prices below $100. It also represents a return to the mainstream market for privately held Lawman Sportswear Inc., the Los Angeles manufacturer that began operations in the United States in the late 1970s and is now known for its Westernwear line of the same name.
Helmed by 31-year-old William Chu—a former management consultant whose family owns the company and the factories in Dongguan, China, and Hong Kong that produce the pants—Petro bowed a test collection of four styles each for men and women for Spring 2005. The sophomore line for Fall 2005 will feature eight styles for men and 10 for women, bearing names such as “Demolitioner” to keep in line with the utility/construction theme. Not everything will be hard and gritty, however. Chu said the company is toying with sateen fabrications, as well.
“We really wanted to try to come off as not another five-pocket jean,” he said. “The line is being really represented as a fashion line.”
Wholesale prices run from approximately $30 to $35.
Chu said the idea for Petro transpired after he surveyed the denim market and realized that the high-end category was becoming saturated with labels. But not too many companies were retailing jeans from $75 to $100, he said. “I could offer a product that could offer the similar aesthetics as the same designer labels but at the price points that would make a difference to the bigger market out there,” Chu concluded.
That’s not to say Petro does not have competition. Other companies retailing jeans for less than $100 include Lucky Brand Dungarees, Revatex Inc.’s J Signature, Blue 2 from Blue Pen Inc. and It Jeans.
Chu said he already received orders from retailers, including Deco Collections in Miami Beach, Fla.; New York’s Zabari; and Studio 1220 in San Diego.
For more information, call Petro’s national sales manager, Martin Dudley, at (213) 746-1660. —Khanh T.L. Tran
