Stefani's Harajuku Lovers Bows at L.A. Fashion Week
A few lucky Los Angeles Fashion Week attendees will get a glimpse of Gwen Stefani’s latest fashion endeavor—and possibly a glimpse of the fashionable pop star herself—when Stefani and Jerry Leigh Apparel host a fashion installation for the new Harajuku Lovers line on Oct. 21 at a hush-hush location in Los Angeles.
Stefani has partnered with Van Nuys, Calif.–based Jerry Leigh Apparel to launch the moderate lifestyle brand, which is a separate project from Stefani’s high-end designer line L.A.M.B.
Harajuku Lovers is Stefani’s offering to the masses, said Sara Scargall, Jerry Leigh’s design director. “L.A.M.B. was for her, Harajuku Lovers is for Gwen to give back to her fans.” The brand will encompass infants, men, women, juniors, kids, intimates and headwear, Scargall said.
Basics-driven, Harajuku Lovers is made up of T-shirts, sweat shirts and the like. Retail price points are $30–$90. “It’s a completely different product than L.A.M.B.,” Scargall said. “There’s no overlap between the customers.”
Although they’re not putting Stefani’s name on the product, Jerry Leigh is counting on the line to be strong enough not only to satisfy Stefani’s legions of fans but also to draw in clients who might not associate the line with the pop star. “They’re going to like it because it’s cute, foremost,” Scargall said.
The line launches with Spring 2006 and will be in national retailers such as Urban Outfitters as well as boutiques, including Kitson, Fred Segal and Yellow Dog in Los Angeles. Long term, Jerry Leigh is considering picking a department store to go forward with.
Harajuku Lovers, designed in heavy collaboration with Stefani, takes its inspiration from the singer’s music and music videos and the club-kid fashions on Tokyo’s Harajuku Street. The brand, whose maxim is “a fatal attraction to cuteness,” appropriates lyrics and motifs from music videos and whips them into edgy designs.
But it’s not just Stefani’s latest album, “Love, Angel, Music, Baby,” that will receive this treatment. “It will be never-ending. Basically, anything Gwen writes, anything she puts out, will be inspiration for the line in the future,” said Scargall.
Jerry Leigh, which holds licenses from companies such as Levi Strauss & Co., Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. and Nickelodeon, will manufacture, market and distribute Harajuku Lovers. —Erin Barajas
