Juuml;nker: Taking Custom to Contemporary
Designers Tod Waters and Giuliana Mayo have been dressing rock stars for years in their custom label Juuml;nker Designs.
Now the two Los Angeles designers are taking their signature look to a wider audience with two new lines, which debut at the Project Global Trade Show Aug. 28–30 in Las Vegas.
Waters and Mayo struck a licensing deal with Thread Management, a Los Angeles company that helps up-and-coming brands grow by providing assistance in financing, distribution, sales and marketing.
Waters and Mayo will draw on designs created for their celebrity clientele—which includes members of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Motley Crue, Slipknot, Buckcherry, Ministry and Bon Jovi, as well as musicians Lenny Kravitz, Alice Cooper and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler—to create designs for the new collections.
Mayo describes both lines as a mix of “best-of-Juuml;nker-blast-from-the-past,” as well as new styles and new fabrications.
The first collection, called Juuml;nker, will be a contemporary- priced collection featuring premium denim, leather pieces and T-shirts, as well as specialty items such as corsets and tutus. Jeans will be “done in our trademark filthy/destroyed manner,” said Mayo.
The second, more-exclusive line is called Juuml;nker 144 and only 144 pieces of each silhouette will be produced. Wholesale prices range from $38 to $666.
Thread Management director Micki Schneider promises that the new collections will maintain Juuml;nker’s signature look. He works with FreshTex California and has worked in production and development for such labels as Levi’s, Diesel, Rock & Republic, Antik Denim, True Religion, Citizens of Humanity, 7 For All Mankind and Joe’s Jeans.
“We tried to work with a bunch of other people,” Waters said, “and seeing Micki’s other high-end work, we thought he was the first person who looked like he could actually realize our down-and-dirty vision.”
Both collections also are featured in a fashion show Aug. 28 at the Las Vegas Rainbow Bar & Grill. For information about the show, call (310) 691-0242. For more information, visit www.juuml;nkerdesigns.com. —Alison A. Nieder
