For Christine Rucci, expanding her 5EP label into a women’s collection was personal as well as professional.
“It really came out of a lot of retail feedback from our best stores wanting women’s items,” said Rucci, who launched 5EP for fall 2004 as a men’s wear denim label and also serves as its chief executive officer and chief designer. “It also came out of my own need to wear our jeans, as well. I was tired of wearing men’s jeans.”
The label hinges on the concept that everyone has “five easy pieces” in their wardrobe that serve as the foundation for their apparel choices, hence 5EP.
“One of those is a pair of jeans,” Rucci said. “You build around that.”
She launched the label with men’s wear primarily because she felt women’s tastes change too quickly when it comes to fashion. She also wanted to build a foundation that would make a women’s collection more desirable.
The debut women’s line consists of six styles, including boot-cut, straight and slim fits, available in three washes. Four of the fits come with an option for stretch, but finding a mill that could produce a stretch selvage denim proved a time-consuming project.
“We wanted to give women the comfort of the stretch, and there’s not many selvage jeans for women,” Rucci said.
Japanese textile mill Kurabo Industries developed the stretch selvage for the line, which will also include non-selvage items using European denim.
Rucci uses films and periods of American history as inspiration for 5EP’s collections and has chosen a film from the year of her birth as her latest inspiration. The women’s line will bow as part of the Greenwich Village Collection, inspired by the 1963 film “The Greenwich Village Story.” The style, said Rucci, is a “country-western beatnik cowpunk” mix and will begin hitting stores in late July and early August. Non-selvage items will sell for $135 to $198, while selvage offerings will retail for $200 to $300.
Rucci anticipates the women’s line will generate $1 million to $1.5 million at retail in the first year. The label sells in some 15 specialty stores, and Rucci has her sights set on breaking into “one good department store.” She is also looking to take 5EP global by moving into Europe and Asia. For that to happen, however, Rucci acknowledges, she needs to first conquer the U.S.
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“You need to make your mark here,” Rucci said. “If you want to get over there, you need to do it here.”