California Apparel News

Former private-label blue jeans designer Jill Perilman has had denim on the brain for the last 20 years. Designing for brands at Tarrant Apparel Group and the Kellwood Company, Perilman (nee Schleisman) found a lot left to be desired in the trend-forecasting books and services available to her.

“I’d buy all these trend books for maybe 10 pages of denim information. No one was specializing in the category,” she said. Frustrated by the lack of current denim information—a concern her fellow denim designers echoed—she hatched a plan to launch Denimhead, a denim-specific trend-forecasting service for denim designers and manufacturers. “There was a real need in the marketplace,” she said.

In 2005, while Perilman was still working as a designer, Denimhead debuted with “The Bottom Line,” a report that focused on the European denim market. “I went to five different cities in Europe,” she said, “and took pictures of people wearing denim and of denim brands and retail garments we don’t get in the U.S.”

Filled with hundreds of pictures, “The Bottom Line” was divided into categories that focused on fit, shape, fabric, washes and all manner of detail from stitches to pocket styles. The 200-page book sold for $1,200.

Targeted at denim and sportswear designers, it was well-received by large design houses and small denim brands alike. “It is very directional. They do their homework and offer a tremendous amount of research,” said Moshe Tsabag, president and owner of juniors apparel giant Hot Kiss. “I’m hooked. I buy every book.”

Fueled by the success of the first book, Perilman set up Denimhead headquarters in Los Angeles and quit her day job to focus on her promising new venture.

The denim hunter

Now, one year later, Denimhead has hired a fleet of sales representatives around the globe, beefed up its research staff and added three titles to its offerings.

The company’s current roster includes “The Bottom Line”; “Denimhead East,” a report that focuses on three Asian cities; “Japan Book”; and “Behind the Seams,” a forecast book filled with runway photos and 250 of Perilman’s own sketches for designers to use or manipulate for their own lines. Compact discs loaded with extra photos, specs and information accompany each book.

Perilman also purchases samples of denim and has her team spec and sketch the jeans for her readers to tweak for their own needs. A new edition of each title is released each spring and fall. The self-published books range from 180 to 200 pages.

“These books are for people who can’t or don’t want to travel to and shop 20 cities all over the world,” Perilman said, estimating that each shopping trip could cost brands $15,000 to $25,000.

Her list of clients is impressive, including Sears, JC Penney, Mervyns, Victoria’s Secret, Pacific Sunwear, Hot Kiss, Second Generation, L.E.I., Mast Industries, Z. Cavaricci, Torrid and New York & Co.

Louise Chan, design director for Commerce, Calif.–based juniors brand L.E.I., praises Perilman’s timely information. “They bring us the latest trends, and they are right on and so fast,” she said. The bookis a great resource for her team, which is often expected to pump out several dozen new styles for each season, Chan said.

More blue news

Perilman isn’t done tapping into her Denimhead reserves. The company has several projects in the works. A new West Coast–focused book, “Denimhead West,” is set to launch later this year. “The West Coast is very important to the denim industry. Premium denim lives here,” she explained. The book will be published quarterly.

Denimhead customers also can look forward to an image database of Perilman’s hundreds of thousands of denim images, sketches and illustrations from the past 20 years. Perilman, who estimates she gathers about 4,000 images per shopping trip, will dump images that don’t make it into her books into the database—as well as images from the books six to eight months after their initial publication. “It will be just another tool for designers to use,” she said.

For 2007, Denimhead plans to introduce the “Wash Book.” Loaded with fabric swatches of innovative washes Perilman develops with local denim wash houses, the book will credit each so designers will know where to go to achieve similar results. “It’ll promote local wash houses and give designers new ideas for washes,” she said.