Eyeshadow: Launching First Jeans Line
For the past 12 years, Los Angeles–based Stony Apparel has manufactured tops for juniors, but in the first week of June it will jump into the crowded jeans market and debut its first denim line at the June 2–5 Fashion Market in New York.
The new jeans label will be called Eyeshadow Denim Diamonds.
Stony Co-Chairman Steve Maiman said developing any new line is a gamble, but he felt safe with the risk of debuting a new jeans line.
In March, Stony hired designer Carl Jones to develop the look for Eyeshadow Denim Diamonds. Jones was the former creative director of Los Angeles–based YMI Jeans and one of the founders of Cross Colours, one of the labels that shaped the urban styles in the early 1990s.
Maiman and Stony Co-Chairman Tony Litman also gambled that juniors retailers and customers would take a chance on an unproven jeans line in a weak economy. “If the product is right, the stores will try something new,” Litman said.
For its first season, Eyeshadow Denim Diamonds will offer eight styles that range from a skinny silhouette and a wide-cut jean to cropped looks and shorts as well as more than three washes for juniors and juniors-plus customers.
Stony’s jeans will bear a graphic of the letter “E” for Eyeshadow, either on the back pocket or on the rivets of the jeans. The line will offer contemporary looks and premium style at juniors prices. Jeans will retail for $39, $49 and $59.
Stony’s new jeans are a good risk, according to Barbara Fields, president of the Barbara Fields Buying Office, which specializes in forecasting juniors fashions. “Every day another label debuts,” Fields said, noting that the juniors consumer is obsessed with novelty enough to always make room for new labels. “Names are not as important to them. Fashion and price are important to them,” she said.
The cachet of a successful launch of a jeans line could boost the profile of Stony Apparel, Maiman said. “It will make us more than a recognized label. It could make us a brand,” he said.
For more information, contact Stony Apparel’s Los Angeles showroom at (213) 627-2782 or its New York City showroom at (212) 391-0022. —Andrew Asch
