LOS ANGELES — It Jeans is revamping its portfolio of denim brands by introducing a new premium label and graduating its namesake junior line to a higher price tier.
This fall, the Los Angeles-based firm is launching Item for men and women. Retailing for $108 to $138, Item aims to provide fashion-forward silhouettes in up to eight bodies, including skinny jeans with 12-inch leg openings, a slouch trouser with a dropped crotch and a version of the men’s tapered anti-fit jeans. The men’s line excludes boot cuts and relaxed straight legs, opting instead for modern silhouettes such as straight, slim, skinny and a tapered anti-fit style with gusseted panels along the inner thigh.
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With 25 stockkeeping units in total for men and women, Item is relying on reputable denim mills but keeping an eye on the bottom line. For instance, it’s using selvage denim only in a men’s straight leg and sourcing Japanese-based Kurabo’s denim that’s made more cheaply in Chinese mills. Item also integrates techniques such as hand scraping and 3-D whiskering.
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“There is a space in the market right now with what’s been happening in the last few years in the economic downturn,” said Mark Wiesmayr, creative director of Item and It Jeans. “People have been getting more and more educated in denim with premium finish and premium fabric. There’s space for us to create a new strata and price level with premium denim.”
Item is the latest brand in It Jeans’ portfolio. Two years ago, the company acquired a 50-percent stake in premium label Kasil for an undisclosed sum. It Jeans plans to unveil a juniors brand called SONG, or Star of Next Generation, at the Los Angeles Majors Market on Monday.
Having joined It Jeans two months ago, Wiesmayr has years of experience making jeans. His previous titles included Levi’s design director, denim director of Sass & Bide, creative director of Blue Blood, and chief executive officer and denim director of Tsubi (now Ksubi).
Item, like It Jeans, is made in China, a provenance that Wiesmayr doesn’t expect to repel consumers who want fashion at a price. “Many premium denim lines are coming out of China,” he said. With costs running 40 percent less in China, he added, “There’s no backlash.”
Revamped as a moderate brand for fall, It Jeans will appeal to customers who aspire to wear some of the higher-priced premium denim lines but don’t want to pay the price. Refiguring all of It Jeans’ branding, Wiesmayr replaced the back pocket embellishments with a clean, simple pocket. He retained two fits that have been successful for It Jeans: a curvy stiletto style and a curvy boot cut. He updated the one-piece waistband with a more fit-enhancing, three-piece band. Other styles include a superstretchy legging and high-waisted flares. It Jeans is now retailing for $70 to $90, compared with its previous pricing of $40 to $60. A men’s line will launch next spring.
Charlie Chung, brand manager for It Jeans and Item, said the company expects sales for Item to reach $2 million to $3 million in the first year through orders from specialty retailers including American Rag Cie, Opening Ceremony in Japan, Fred Segal in Santa Monica, Calif., and Ron Herman and Theodore in Los Angeles. It Jeans, which has been picked up by Nordstrom and national specialty chains South Moon Under and Blue Jeans Bar, projects revenue to reach $5 million in the first year. Launched in 2003, It Jeans generated sales of about $60 million during its peak as a junior brand. The company is unfazed by the challenges of moving It Jeans to a new market that’s already dominated by brands such as Silver Jeans and Lucky Brand.
“It was a very clear strategy to take it out of the juniors market,” Wiesmayr said. “We wanted to clean up what we had. We thought a modernism view was better.”