NEW YORK — You can sense it the minute you walk into Threeasfour’s (née As Four) fourth-floor studio. The feeling in the air is palpably different. At first it’s difficult to figure out what’s changed. Everything certainly looks as it has for some seven years: the Factory-esque silver walls and ceiling, the fun house mirror reflecting the curving rack of clothes that approximate lovely, alien flora. There are, however, two marked absences — the once ever-present pit bull Powder and his outspoken owner, Kai Kuhne, both gone almost a year ago. Now that the dust from that much-publicized split has settled, the new, unnameable feeling might be serenity, the sort that comes after life-changing shifts.
“It’s been a hell of a year,” says Adi, taking her seat on a bench covered with silver sequins. One of Kuhne’s former responsibilities was that of press liaison, one that the rest of the quartet seemed happy to let him handle. But now, all three — Adi, Ange and Gabi, who all go by one-name monikers — seem more eager to talk than ever.
“Yeah, I would just say that so many things happened,” adds Ange, quickly. “Not all necessarily horrible. There were lots of ups and downs.”
True enough. The 12-month span that began with Kuhne’s departure last February also saw a tripling of sales as a result of the new denim line; the creation of a perfume now on sale at Colette, Barneys New York and Aedes de Venustas; the changing of the label’s name, and a refocusing of business strategy, or at least the emergence of a strategy where previously there had been none. According to the trio, it was this latter point that really drove the wedge between them and Kuhne. “Kai saw the future — which is the denim line — as something very different. He thought it should be something very familiar to the market, like a five-pocket jean,” explains Gabi. “But we said we could do it our way. Kai was scared that it wouldn’t work.”
According to early indications, though, it seems to be working. For spring, the number of retailers carrying Threeasfour (the name was changed legally over the summer) leapt from eight to 38 — many carrying only denim. It seems like a perfect situation. Buyers who have long admired their originality can now offer it in the hottest retail category and at an equally hot price point (Threeasfour denim retails from $111 to $300). The designers, in turn, receive more exposure in places where they may never have, like Cincinnati. And Canadian department store Holt Renfrew placed its first order with the designers for the denim line. “They’re beacons of downtown cool,” says Holt Renfrew’s fashion director, Barbara Atkin, who has followed them for several seasons. “Retailers are looking for unique names that offer something different, but will also grow to be a new business. And we can’t get enough denim in our stores.” The prospect of the denim line also excited longtime supporters, like Barneys New York fashion director Julie Gilhart. The store has carried the collection since spring 2001. “The first thing you noticed about As Four was the unique shape of pants, all based on circular patterns,” says Gilhart. “Over the years, they’ve refined their patterns. So it’s denim, but based on a very tailored, fashion look.”
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Nowadays, the designers eagerly await the response of stores and customers to work the feedback into future collections, instead of designing in an artsy vacuum. “That’s the beauty of Threeasfour,” says Gabi. “Now we’re considering the customer, which we never really did before. Before we were just doing our thing. Now we want a presence in the market as a product. I mean, it’s scary as hell, but that’s our challenge.” And as lucrative and popular as denim is, the Threeasfour brigade says that it’s only the first step. Today’s runway show at the Deitch Projects will be mostly their main collection mixed with a few denim pieces. They also want to branch out to shoes and handbags and continue to work with Kate and Andy Spade, doing pieces here and there, now under the name threeasfourkatespade. When asked which designer’s business they would like to emulate, Gabi answers without hesitation, “Sean John. Puffy.” Really?
“Yeah, why not?” he continues. “Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein. That’s what we want. We’ll see if we can do it. Now is the test.”
And will they take a fourth designer? Though they consider Marie-Theres Franke, who has headed their accounting department, a sort of fourth, the answer is no. “A friend of ours told us to do a reality show to look for number four,” says Adi, laughing. “We said, ‘Noooo!’ Can you imagine us on TV?”
But Gabi brings the conversation back to their reality. “The fourth one would be our partner,” he says. “Now we need a financial partner.”