California Apparel News

For 11 years Jeff Shafer has built Portland, Ore.–based premium-denim brand Agave, which sells at some of America’s best retailers. Now he’s ready to gamble on an entirely new business model.

To launch Bluer Denim, his new line of premium jeans, he is not using the conventional means of starting a fashion line. Instead, he is currently raising money for it on Kickstarter, the crowd-funding platform that is typically the domain of novice entrepreneurs.

Some funding for Kickstarter projects comes from individuals who are simply inspired by the idea. Kickstarter’s guidelines allow project creators to offer a reward in exchange for a pledge of money. The reward can be the item being made or a “custom experience related to the project.” However, the guidelines prohibit project creators from selling preorders of finished product. Each project must include detailed progress reports on the state of the project’s development.

Shafer will manufacture and source the line entirely in America, and he will sell the new label at half the price of typical premium denim. Bluer’s cotton grown will be grown in Georgia. The fabric will be woven from White Oak denim from Cone Denim Mills from North Carolina. Bluer is manufactured at R&W Inc. in Huntington Park, a short drive from downtown Los Angeles. The new label will not be wholesaled to bricks-and-mortar stores.

“Making goods in the U.S. is viable again,” Shafer said of the e-commerce model with no physical store outlet. He will somewhat be preaching to the choir with his new venture.

The intended crowd for Bluer is one that’s typically most comfortable with buying fashion online—college students. Sales are also aimed at fashionistas and people looking for products made in America.

This direct-to-consumer model is more often used by start-up companies and new entrepreneurs. In 2012, San Francisco basics label American Giant sold its hoodies and T-shirts through a direct-to-consumer basis. The company’s founder, Bayard Winthrop, forecast that his brand’s 2013 revenue will increase 10 times over his company’s 2012 revenue, Winthrop told California Apparel News recently.

Another direct-to-consumer brand, New York–headquartered men’s label Bonobos Inc., was founded in 2007. Its direct-to-consumer model garnered a lot of headlines in the business and fashion press. Yet in 2011, it shifted from its Internet-only model. It opened a handful of bricks-and-mortar showroom boutiques. In 2012, it placed Bonobos apparel at selected Nordstrom locations and on Nordstrom's e-commerce site (www.nordstrom.com). (Last year, the Seattle-based retailer was one of several investors in the brand.)

Shafer continues to design and run Agave, which is wholesaled to more than 500 stores in North America, including Nordstrom. He started Bluer because he saw demand growing for direct-to-consumer shopping. By the end of the first year of business, he forecast that Bluer will sell $1 million. He predicted the line’s sales will double every year for the next five years. He also hoped to prove a point with the label.

“Manufacturing is leaving the U.S.,” he said. “It’s at the cost of American jobs.” He hopes that Bluer’s manufacturing model will inspire others to manufacture in the U.S. Until July 4, people can purchase Bluer clothes on Kickstarter. After July 4, they can purchase at www.bluerdenim.com. Shoppers can, on the website, purchase one of Bluer’s 16 styles for men or 17 styles for women. Bluer’s unique shopping arrangement starts when the label’s staff will ship the consumer three different sizes of the style selected by a shopper. The styles range from super skinny to classic boot cut. Shoppers have two weeks from receipt of the clothes to mull over which sizes fit them the best. During this time, Bluer will pre-authorize the shopper’s credit card for $250 but charge nothing. When the unwanted jeans are returned, the label will charge the customer for what they keep.

Bluer pants will retail for $95 to $145. Premium denim often costs $125 and up. The label also will make shirts, jackets and accessories such as bandannas and caps. The label’s customer service will take a digital spin. Every piece of clothing is given a serial number. If there is a problem with any of the clothing, consumers are requested to send a picture of the serial number on the jeans and photo of the problem, and the item will be repaired or replaced for free. Bluer Denim will share Agave’s design and distribution space at the company’s headquarters, a 24,000-square-foot plant overlooking the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge in Washington state. Bluer Denim orders will be fulfilled from the same location, which is located 14 miles north of Portland International Airport.

There also is a philanthropic side to Bluer. For every pair of the label’s jeans purchased, Bluer will buy back a pair of the consumer’s old jeans for $5, clean them up and donate them to a person who needs them.

“There are enough jeans made in the world,” Shafer said.” But there are always more people who need them.”