Dressed With Distress
From the look of Grail’s paint-splattered T-shirts and roughed-up sweaters, it appears the guys who applied the distress were having a grand time. Each treatment is intended to recall a story of natural wear and tear within the garment. A T-shirt is splattered with paint, a zip-up hoodie has surfer-like sun-bleached fading, a jacket has a swath of paint rolled across it and a button-down shirt is embellished with rust patches.
“The concept behind Grail was: Anything that you would do to a denim bottom, we did it on tops,” said owner and designer Peter Ross. The denim wash treatments include potassium spray, grinding, enzyme softener, stone wash and paint splatter.
Ross describes Grail’s Fall 2005 tops as graphics-driven, with tattoo artist–designed line drawings featuring life-and-death images such as a rose and skull or a hummingbird and dead tree. For Spring 2005, the tattoo graphics will still be grounded in the rock ’n’ roll vibe, but images with a beach theme will provide a freshly evolving look. The graphics are administered with colorful shading by Rene Acuna and complemented with special screen-printing methods such as cracked ink and reverse-screen printing.
The brand has added several divisions since the T-shirt line started in 2003, including jewelry; handbags; wallets; hats; and Unholy Grail, which features tops with the same edgy tattoo graphics but on a clean slate of white or black cotton.
Wholesale price points are $50 to $60 for treated T-shirts, $46 to $80 for Unholy Grail shirts and sweaters, $150 for jeans, $100 to $185 for accessories, and as much as $300 for authentic vintage army jackets treated with all-over screen printing.
Grail denim designs have included basic distressed styles treated with detailed embroidery and screen printing, but the label is rolling out a revamped denim line for Spring/Summer 2005 that will have a 1970s inspiration. Nikol Roberts will be introducing design-forward styles as the canvas for the label’s distinct washes and graphic designs.
“The brand Grail is for anybody who would call themselves an artist: a surfer, painter, sculptor and musician,” Ross said. “If you call whatever you do an art, then you’re the Grail customer.”
For more information, visit the Blue Concept showroom in suite 1200 of The New Mart, or call (213) 614-0700.
—Rhea Cortado
