Agave Partners With Electric Sportscar Co. Tesla
When executives for the San Carlos, Calif.–based electric-car company Tesla Motors were planning the look for their salespeople, they wanted their staff to be dressed similarly to their prospective customers—car buyers in the market for a high-end, luxury sportscar with an environmental point of difference.The company picked premium-denim brand Agave for the job.
The Agave-designed uniforms and the sleek electric sportscar debuted on May 5 when Tesla Motors opened its first dealership in West Los Angeles.
For the dealership’s festive debut party on May 1, male and female salespeople wore black Supima cotton jeans produced by Agave.
Beginning this fall, Tesla salespeople will wear Agave’s long-sleeve Supima cotton T-shirt, bearing the Tesla logo, according to Jeff Shafer, the designer and owner of Agave, which was founded in 2002 in Santa Monica, Calif.
Shafer also is in talks with Tesla to open Agave boutiques in future Tesla dealerships. The electric-car maker is scheduled to open seven dealerships by 2009, according to Jeremy Cleland, senior manager of accessories and apparel at Tesla. Agave was chosen to partner with Tesla because the companies shared values on the environment and an upscale demographic. “It’s upscale and it’s casual, but it’s not too casual,” Cleland said of Agave denim.
The association with Tesla is not expected to give Agave a big payday, Shafer said. Instead, the novelty of the partnership will reap good press for his company, which has been based in Vancouver, Wash., since mid-2006.
“When was the last time a new car company was started? When was the last time an electric-car company was launched?” Shafer asked.
Tesla hopes to revive the dormant market for electric cars. According to Tesla’s Web site, the company’s two-seat roadster can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour in four seconds. Since it is electric, the car will not produce carbon emissions. Already, more than 600 orders have been placed for the $98,000 car. The Roadster gets 250 miles per one charge. Fuel costs are estimated to be 4 cents per mile.
By 2010, the company will release a four-door sedan that will cost $50,000.
Agave is one of several fashion companies that have collaborated with car companies and airlines. In 2005, the Scion division of Toyota Motor Sales sponsored a sportswear line called Release. Scion staff wear a street golfwear line at auto shows. The Release line has been sold on the Scion Web site, according to Allison Takahashi, a spokesperson for Toyota.
In 2006, Delta Airlines’ flight attendants and airport customer-service staff started wearing uniforms designed by Los Angeles–based designer Richard Tyler. —Andrew Asch
