Bishop of Seventh Launches Men's Collection, Expands Women's Offerings
In 2006, Bishop of Seventh launched with a collection of menswear-inspired premium denim and trousers for women. The line is designed by a husband-and-wife team of New York designers transplanted to Los Angeles.
The collection is a study in opposites, said Chachi Prasad, the brand’s co-designer, who launched the brand with wife Karam Kim. Now, after establishing the brand in 150 retailers nationwide, Bishop of Seventh is expanding its reach with the introduction of a men’s collection and a slew of new categories for women for Spring 2009.
“Stores were asking us for a men’s line. And it is something we’ve wanted to do for a while,” Prasad said, speaking from the brand’s downtown Los Angeles office. He and Kim cut their teeth working in high-end fashion houses in New York, including John Varvatos, DKNY, Calvin Klein, Oscar by Oscar de la Renta and Y Yigal at Yigal Azrouel. “With all of our experience, it was easy for us to execute a men’s collection.”
The men’s collection, also branded Bishop of Seventh, includes eight denim silhouettes, trousers and an edited package of knit pieces. Available in 10 to 15 washes, the men’s denim offerings range from cropped jeans to straight, skinny, boot, wide-leg and slouchy styles. Trousers and shorts are available in traditional suiting fabrics. Washes lean toward the darker spectrum, but some lightness is brought in with the brand’s use of tan-colored denim for Spring. To complement the bottoms, Prasad and Kim created T-shirts that they say are anything but basic. Made from silk/cotton blends and rayon ribbed fabrics, some T-shirts are more editorial, while others feature understated, tonal printing. “It is all very clean and minimal but with an edge,” Prasad said. Fabrics for the collection, as for the women’s offerings, are sourced internationally, but production is all in Los Angeles.
When designing the men’s collection, Prasad and Kim made an effort to mirror the clean, tailored aesthetic they developed with the women’s collection. “We wanted the men’s [offerings] to relate directly back. The women’s collection is already menswear-inspired, so we borrowed some trim details—like our traditional stitching and hard-braided details—for the men,” he said. The designers also made men’s versions of their best-selling women’s jeans. “The men’s collection needs to look like the same brand but molded for men.” The collection will wholesale for $90 to $130.
Also debuting for Spring 2009 is an expanded collection of women’s offerings that will include dresses, coats and tops—a first for Bishop of Seventh. “We want to be a full collection. That has always been our goal. This is the first step,” Prasad said. Come Fall 2009, Prasad and Kim hope to debut Bishop of Seventh during Fashion Week either in Los Angeles or New York. By that time, the men’s collection will have grown to include categories outside of trousers, denim and knits.
Buyers will get their first peek at the men’s collection and the expanded women’s offerings at the Fashion Coterie trade show, set for Sept. 16–18 in New York. The men’s collection, like the women’s, will target high-end department stores and contemporary specialty retailers.
