Chip & Pepper Open Calif. Store
Premium-denim specialists Chip & Pepper opened its first West Coast store on May 17 at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, Calif.
The 900-square-foot store features the company’s entire collection of denim and sportswear along with the C&P University line of tees, knits and twills from the Los Angeles–based twin brothers Chip and Pepper Foster, who are also the company’s principal design team.
In the company’s brief four-year existence, it has evolved from surf chic to vintage and now features a more contemporary edge with a strong celebrity following.
Chip & Pepper also has stores in New York and Dallas as well as an online presence at www.chipandpepper.com.
Also coming to Fashion Island this fall is French swimwear brand Vilbrequin. The opening will mark Vilbrequin’s second West Coast unit, after one in Beverly Hills. It also has a presence in resort markets such as Atlantic City, N.J.; Las Vegas; Dallas; Palm Beach, Fla.; Bal Harbour, Fla.; and New York.
The company’s strength is its printed men’s swim trunks line, which originated in St. Tropez during the 1970s. The trunks are made with fastdrying canvas from spinnaker sails used in yachting and come in more than 80 prints. The company has also developed several “Dad and Me” combinations. The trunks also feature other technical features such as strategically placed eyelets to allow air and water to escape.
The trunks retail for about $175 and usually come with a cloth carrying bag and waterproof wallet.—Robert McAllister
