California Apparel News

For 20 years, Premiere Laundry sewed blank tees, hoodies and sweats and developed intricate dyes for clients at its factory and dye house in Vernon, Calif.

For its next chapter, the company is going to release a new fashion line called Premiere Apparel, which will take its inspiration from popular trends selling in Japan, said Chris Josol, Premiere Apparel’s partner and vice president of sales.

He is launching the project with Premiere Laundry’s owner, Marc Boutayer, whom Josol met years ago when he was looking for a blank-T-shirt source for his T-shirt-focused brand Surf Is Dead, launched in 2015.

The pair brainstormed about what the market needed and thought the fashion world was hungry for a higher-end basics brand.

Before designing the line, the two researched what stylish people in Tokyo were wearing, discovering they favored oversized silhouettes. “It’s more boxy,” Josol said. “They [the garments] are heavier weights; collars are bigger.”

But Premiere Apparel’s point of difference would be bold, unique colors and tie-dye patterns, Josol said, with Premiere Laundry’s washes intended to give the pieces a soft feel.

The apparel collection’s tie-dye designs range from relatively minimal looks such as a sweatshirt featuring blue tie-dye hues at the shoulders that then blend into white around the waist. There are also detailed tie-dye ring patterns with other patterns looking like night skies.

Premiere Apparel’s inaugural line will feature 54 styles of unisex basics looks, which will include T-shirts, polo shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies as well as beanies and baby tees. Wholesale price points will range from $22 to $88, Boutayer said.

Josol has experience selling high-end basics. His Surf Is Dead brand, which started from a conversation the founder had with friends about the state of surfwear, was selected last year by Gap Inc. to be part of a new exclusive menswear collection called GQ’s “Coolest Designers on the Planet.”

The program, which recognized menswear designers from labels including Balmain, Dsquared2, MSGM, No Vacancy Inn, Officine Générale, Opening Ceremony and Stampd, had designers doing their take on the classic Gap sweatshirt.

Surf Is Dead developed a capsule collection that was sold at select Gap stores. It featured a neon-colored graphic of a vintage woman surfer, and shows the Surf Is Dead and Gap logos.

Photos courtesy of Premiere Apparel