Matthew Jung, left, and Grover designer Kyle Asai, both wearing Grover.
GROVER
Break From Tradition
When Matthew Jung started basics line Grover in 2010, he imagined it as a standard of consistency in a fickle fashion world.
Grover always would offer the same bodies, in the same colors and at the same thread count—somewhere in between thick mass-market T-shirts and the sheer tees of the boutique world. Being the solid, dependable T-shirt label worked out well for Grover. It was placed at influential retailer American Rag Cie. But the dependable guy is ready to try on a new suit.
For its Spring 2014 season, Grover will debut capsule collections Grover Goes to the Gym and Grover Goes on Vacation. Producing capsule collections will allow Grover to try something new without offending the consumers who admire the label’s consistency.
Made for the sports crowd, the gym capsule is based on Grover bodies but with a few twists. Instead of a traditional plain shirt, the capsule’s tank tops bear the words “Grover USA.” Gym shorts have a letter “G” on the left leg. The capsule also includes a sweatshirt and a baseball cap made in collaboration with retro sportswear company Ebbets Field Flannels. There’s a beanie that bears the tag “Grover, Property of” followed by a blank line where a name can be filled in.
The Vacation capsule, meant for the sportswear and casual crowd, has more leeway with graphics than other Grover lines. One T-shirt depicts a graphic of a school of dolphins, and there are also graphics of a stylized women’s face and a beer glass surrounded by hibiscus flowers. Just to drive the vacation theme, the capsule collection also offers a skinny version of an aloha shirt.
Grover and its capsule lines are entirely made in the U.S., Jung said.
“How nice is it that you can talk to the guy who cuts tags on the shirts and visit the farm where the cotton is grown,” Jung said of producing a U.S.-made line. The clothes are sewn, dyed and screenprinted in Los Angeles; yarns are milled in the U.S.; and the cotton is grown in America.
Wholesale prices points range from $18 for tank tops to $38 for sweatshirts. For more information, contact Matt Flynn at flynn@flagship-agency.com.
