California Apparel News

Lubov Azria is a fashion tour de force in Los Angeles, propelling the well-known BCBGMaxAzria Group into the high-tech 21st century.

As chief creative officer of the company, based in the LA industrial area of Vernon, Calif., she oversees the design of many of the company’s brands, including BCBGMaxAzria, BCBGMaxAzria Runway and Hervé Léger by Max Azria.

A former ballerina from the Ukraine, Azria channels her passion each season into BCBG’s collections, working alongside her husband, Max Azria, founder, designer, chairman and chief executive officer of his namesake company, which began in 1989.

Approaching its 25th anniversary, the global lifestyle brand has much to celebrate. It has garnered a celebrity following that includes Angelina Jolie, Madonna and first lady Michelle Obama. The company has more than 570 retail boutiques worldwide, a thriving wholesale business, and an innovative e-commerce website and social-media campaign.

Working from the company’s headquarters, where approximately 1,400 are employed, Lubov Azria is very “hands on,” fitting every single garment that’s made for BCBG and Hervé Léger.

California Apparel News Fashion Editor N. Jayne Seward caught up with Azria in San Francisco at the Academy of Art University’s annual student fashion show, where both Azrias were honored.

BCBG comes from the French phrase “bon chic, bon genre.” What is the essence of BCBG, and who is the BCBG girl?

The essence of the brand really stems from our aesthetic and how we design. “Bon chic, bon genre” stands for “good style, good attitude,” but also within it is taste, luxury.

The collection should be designed with a certain taste in mind. It should be luxurious, it should be sexy, but not provocative, [and have] attention to detail.

There’s always vintage inspiration. I have a beautiful archive, so there’s a certain aesthetic. At BCBG we say that “if we can’t wear it, we don’t make it.” We put a lot of pride and passion into what we do. I think that’s why it’s lasted for so long—almost 25 years.

When you think about it, it’s amazing. I don’t know how many other brands have been steadily growing for 25 years and consistently. I think the customer who started with us 15 to 20 years ago is still shopping. So it’s a great achievement. We’re going to have a big celebration in all our stores. I can’t tell you what it is, but we should be able to really celebrate.

You’ve been in business for 25 years. What keeps your brand relevant and innovative for today?

I think it’s always being innovative and being passionate about it. I think there is no business without passion, innovation and vision.

I think that business has changed in fashion because of social media and people want to be the first. They want to wear the coolest things. It’s not anymore just fitting in.

At BCBG, because we ship every single month, we ship anywhere from 100 styles to sometimes 150. The designers have a chance to really say something. It’s great because you see new product all the time. It’s not something that’s stale and stays there for four months. They order very little, so it gets sold out and then a new collection comes in.

How much of a challenge is it to create so many collections per season?

It’s not. We are creating every single day. The whole idea is it takes time to create something that’s editorial. But the point is that when you’re passionate and you’re excited, it’s very easy to keep on creating.

You just have to build an organization that can deal with that. I have about 30 pattern makers, which is unheard of. Pattern making is really a dying art. If you look at the average age of patternmakers right now, they’re between 50 and 60. Nobody wants to go into patterns. Everybody wants to be a designer. And the same thing with sewers. Who wants to sew right now? So actually, what I’m even more worried about is the future of the garment industry because nobody is really going into it.

[For example], the sewers in China—their kids are being educated, and they don’t want to do what their parents are doing. So who’s going to do it?

Where do you produce the collection?

We make most of it in China. But overall we employ 15,000 people. When we were going through the recession, it was so difficult because I wanted to take a salary cut completely. I did not want to lay off one person, and I think we had very few layoffs. It was tough. It was really, really tough and I have to say so many teams stuck together. And, actually, the top executives gave up part of their salaries and helped others.

What part of the design process takes place at your headquarters in Vernon, Calif.?

In Vernon, we make a lot of samples. We also make duplicates for showrooms. But a lot of it is mostly design. We make all our first samples in-house. We don’t have a system where there’s a technical designer that sends it overseas and then they make a sample and send it back. We don’t do that. So from the sketch to the production sample—it’s all made in house. And then the production sample is sent to Asia.

Why did you eliminate the Max Azria collection, and how has that affected BCBG as a brand?

It got confusing for the customers because it was like BCBGMaxAzria, BCBGMaxAzria Runway, Max Azria and Hervé Léger by Max Azria. It just got to be too many. And then also for Runway, we only did dresses and I really wanted to do sportswear. So we just mixed the Runway and Max Azria as one. ... Just economically, it made better [sense]. The team could be stronger. It’s much more focused, and I think we’re able to put our energy into a division and really consolidate. Also from a marketing standpoint, it’s much easier to talk about a brand when it’s more focused.

Hervé Léger has a distinctive signature look. What is your vision for the brand, and how does it evolve each season?

When it comes to Hervé Léger, I have such a particular vision. It’s always about innovation and making the pieces unique, beautiful and comfortable, which is so important.

I think that our customer is always on the forefront of fashion. She knows what she wants, and I want to give her that and above. I really do.

To keep on innovating and to keep on coming up with new ideas is truly my goal. It’s all engineered. When they were talking about 3-D printing [at the Academy of Art], I was wondering how can I do this for Hervé Léger?

Hervé Léger dresses have been such a phenomenon, and there are many knock-offs. How do you handle that?

It does hurt us, [but] it’s part of the industry. ... I just have to focus on what’s important to me, which is innovation and creation, and just do the best that I can.

I think the true customer will appreciate it. I think [fashion writer] Suzy [Menkes] said it right. It’s not about more. It’s about the right pieces.

How do you connect with your customers?

Four to six times a year we have what we call “Trend Events” in the stores. Those trend events are five days. During that time the salesperson [reviews] all the trends, and within each trend there’s a message.

Like “Blue Crush,” for example. It’s all about this wonderful print that we did that looks like a wave. Where is she going to wear it? How do you wear it? How do you mix the colors? So, we’re educating them.

There are also looks for each one, and there is actually a video [on] how to put it together. ... The whole idea is for [the salesperson] to invite their best customers and walk them through the trend. And it’s not about selling. I want them to teach [customers] about the trends so they get product knowledge. ... So what happens then is the customer now wants to buy it because they understand the product. They understand how it was designed. ... The customer then knows the line and understands it because when you come to the BCBG store, there is so much product, and it’s important to break it down. So that’s what I mean by educating.

There are many innovations with e-commerce and social media. How has BCBG adapted to that, and what do you think is important for brands to be doing?

Social media is amazing because if you think about it, in the past you couldn’t really tell your story. The way it worked is that PR [the public-relations department] would give the garments and would work with editors.

The editors would shoot it within the stories, so you [the reader] never saw the full story or the full inspiration behind your brand.

With social media, you can talk about your interests, you can really talk about brand, your inspirations, your vision—so many things that I think people would like to know. They really kind of completed that circle for the customer. So if the customer is interested, they can get so much information about what’s going on.

Do you work with bloggers?

I think blogging is not just a trend. They’re doing a great job at promoting the product. It’s a huge business now, which at first it was like, “Oh, you know, they’re just girls [blogging].” But now it’s a serious business. We can see the difference. When they are promoting a product from us, the sales go through the roof. And we’ve never seen that with magazines.

How is retail right now, and what do you think is the current state of the fashion industry?

People are much more cautious and shop differently now than ever before. With the Internet, it’s incredible. People will go into the store, look at the garments, but then they’ll buy it online. So customer service is so important. I think the consumer is changing. Their demands are changing, their point of view is changing, and we have to change with them. That’s how you stay in retail.

Where do you think the apparel industry is going? Do you think there will be more and more online sales?

I think as people have less and less time, it’s going to be more and more online. But you still want that service. When you come into the store, you want somebody’s opinion. Really, shopping is therapy.

When you shop online, it’s not all the time therapeutic. So people have to get out, and I hope that people get out more, communicate more and connect more with others.

What is next for BCBG?

Well, we are going to celebrate 25 years [next year], so we are very excited in planning all of that. I think it’s really expanding the lifestyle brand that we’ve always dreamed it to be. So hopefully in the future there will be more.

I would love to do home one day. Expanding more into accessories would be amazing. I think [menswear and] kidswear would be fantastic.

I feel like we have such a potential because our European sensibility with an American flair is unique and different from everybody else, and we want to stay that way. We’re not trying to go where other people have their niches. We’re trying to create our own—and we’re doing it.