Jeff Rudes Launches Luxury Menswear Collection
J Brand co-founder Jeff Rudes is at it again.
More than two years after selling a majority share of his Los Angeles premium-denim label to Japanese retailer Uniqlo for nearly $300 million, Rudes is back in the clothing business with a new line of high-end menswear that will be designed and produced in Bologna, Italy, even though the label’s headquarters will be in Los Angeles.
The brand will be called Jeffrey Rüdes, with an added umlaut to reflect the German origin of his last name. And to make sure that people pronounce that last name as two syllables and not just one.
The menswear collection debuts July 1 when Rudes opens a self-named store in the heart of New York’s SoHo District and debuts an online site. The two-story space at 57 Greene St. will encompass 5,800 square feet.
At J Brand, the denim guru sourced top-of-the-line denim from places such as Italy and Japan. Again he will be concentrating on luxury fabrics that will be sourced in Italy and Japan plus England for the new menswear line.
When Rudes departed J Brand nearly one year ago, selling the rest of his share to Uniqlo’s parent, Fast Retailing Co., he said he was working on a project that had been in the making for five years.
This is the result of that five-year plan. The new menswear collection will be heavy on men’s blazers, the staple ingredient in any well-groomed man’s wardrobe, as well as leather and shearling jackets, crisp shirting, sweaters, and only a few styles of jeans.
Rudes has been in the apparel industry for decades. He got his start in 1976 when he founded the jeans line Paris 2000. He went on to create the womenswear lines Area Code and A. Gold E.
In 2004, with designer Susie Crippen, he launched J Brand when the premium-denim category was on fire. In 2010, they sold 52 percent of the company to Star Avenue Capital, which two years later sold an 80.1 percent share to Fast Retailing for nearly $300 million.
