California Apparel News

Los Angeles–based denim maker David Kahn is ready to take his business to the next level. Known for his eponymous line of premium core basics that sells in majors as well as specialty stores, Kahn is reinventing his collection with the Fall 2011 season.

Jill Perilman, the denim designer and denim-trend analyst behind the Denimhead trend service, has joined the brand as design director.

All of this comes after New York–based knitwear maker By Design acquired a 90 percent stake in the company in June. At that time, Perilman’s husband, Ron Perilman, joined as president of David Kahn.

Prior to joining the company, Ron Perilman had been senior vice president of Not Your Daughter’s Jeans. The David Kahn acquisition, which cost a reported $10 million, brought the company an injection of new funding, new blood and a new direction.

Jill Perilman, who prior to launching Denimhead designed jeans for Tarrant Apparel Group and Kellwood, has been tasked with bringing a fashion focus to the David Kahn brand. “We want to be a fashion leader,” said David Kahn, who remains with the company as creative director.

In the future, Kahn envisions the brand hanging along with the J Brands of the world. “David Kahn has an unbelievable fit and a great core basics business,” Jill Perilman said. “What the brand needed was some sizzle, more fashion and non-denim fabrications.”

Starting with Fall 2011, David Kahn will begin to offer novelty and fashion denim and non-denim pieces. “We’re taking David Kahn to the next level and offering much more in the line,” Jill Perilman said.

Wholesale price points for the brand will remain in the neighborhood of $69 to $98 with a target retail price of $148 to $168.

Spring 2011 saw the addition of cut-and-sew and knit tops to the line. “We have a fantastic team in New York that designed our tops,” Kahn said. Adding new categories to a denim line can be challenging, he said. “It all has to stand alone, but it also has to relate to each other.” The tops, he said, are easy to wear and easy to retail.

A marketing campaign to illustrate and emphasize the shift is in the works— something that Jill Perilman said is a first for the denim maker.

Founded in 1999, David Kahn sells in more than 1,000 doors across the United States and Canada, including Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s.—Erin Barajas