Twelfth Street Launches Denim Line Cyn
Cyn, the new denim line from Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent, takes a high-fashion approach to an everyday fabric.
“Denim is completely removed from fashion,” said the designer of Cyn, James Abbott, who previously worked with Flyte Ostell, Bodymap and Katherine Hammett in London.
He gives the example of the boot-cut jean. Although boot-cut jeans are a strong-selling style in the denim market, he said that the style has not graced the runway in other fabrications in the last few years.
Cyn launched its first collection for Spring 2006 at the Oct. 21–24 run of the Designers & Agents trade show in Los Angeles. The denim line is part of Cynthia Vincent’s company expansion, which includes a shoe line that shipped to stores this fall.
The core denim line pays attention to fit details and fashion-forward silhouettes such as a skinny-leg “Twiggy” jean; the slouchy, flaired-leg “Pirate” jean; and a wide-legged “Hepburn” jean. Washes are dark and clean or lightly treated with a natural worn look. One lilac-color denim is a throwback to the 1980s’ off-blue-tinted jeans found in stores such as Wal-Mart. “I’m so sick of denim abuse,” said Abbott of the “over-treated” denim in the market.
Minutely curved back pockets provide a visual boost for bums, and angular pockets minimize endowed rears. The starburst- like design and geometric patterns in gold metallic thread on the back pockets were inspired by the art of Lee Bontecou and Abbott’s sculptor friend Liz Larner.
The details on the fashion denim pieces are treated as a collection, including trousers finished like men’s pants with a Fijian tapa print lining the inside waistband. Selvage edging on jackets and the inside seams of the jeans stays true to the denim fabric.
Wholesale price points range from $70 for a stretch “Pirate” jean to $116 for basic darkwash jeans with selvage edging and $135 for a vintage-wash stretch jacket. For more information, call (213) 236-0555. —Rhea Cortado
