929 Showroom
929 Showroom
California Market Center
Suite B436
(213) 471-2990
Michele Bykerk is the kind of outdoorsy girl whose showroom is decorated with cowhide rugs, distressed wooden tables, Navajo-style rugs and a framed picture of her horse, Joey.
So it seems only appropriate that for the past two years she has been the only U.S. representative for the Buckaroo brand of denim jeans, whose name means cowboy.
The label is based in South Korea, where the collection is carried in more than 100 stores, and is manufactured in China, South Korea and Japan.
Buckaroo, made for men and women, is a 12-ounce to 13-ounce denim whose wholesale price points for the Spring 2012 collection range from $89 to $99. They come in various kinds of distressed looks and are selling well at The Buckle, a successful chain of denim stores based in Kearney, Neb.
“The designers travel all over the world to get the [distressing] technologies down,” said Bykerk, who first opened a showroom in the C section of the California Market Center in Los Angeles in 2007 and was one of the first to move to the new Area 4 part of the building in October 2010.
On the contemporary side, Bykerk also reps Toku, a selection of men’s woven shirts that have both clean, sophisticated looks and embroidered motifs. The Los Angeles–based label has more embellished styles (think tone-on-tone motifs on the back) selling well in Las Vegas, Texas and Arizona, with the cleaner looks doing better in urban areas. Wholesale prices range from $34 to $38.
Rounding out the contemporary look is Scott Free, a men’s line of ultra-soft cotton/Modal T-shirts created by DJ/designer Scott Cannon. The tops are graphics driven with images inspired by the music world. They have been selling well at Nordstrom, Bykerk said, with wholesale prices ranging from $18 to $20.—Deborah Belgum
