New premium denim label Henry III Generation has its roots in a difficult, ultimately successful journey.
Angie Ahmadi-Miller, founder and chief designer, was inspired to start the line by her childhood in war-ravaged Afghanistan as well as her love of fashion. A pair of jeans made by her mother played a pivotal role in her life.
Ahmadi-Miller was seven years old when she and her three siblings were forced to flee from their home in Kabul on foot with only the clothes they were wearing during the Soviet invasion. She had on her first pair of jeans. They were made by her mother, who was in India seeking medical attention at the time. As her father stayed behind to divert suspicions, the four children journeyed alone, at night and on foot, to Pakistan and eventually India, where they reunited with their parents. The family then immigrated to the U.S., eventually settling in Dallas.
“To design is my passion and lifelong dream,” said Ahmadi-Miller, who also owns Bella Bella, Milan and Friction, three women’s contemporary stores in the West Village Shopping Center near downtown Dallas.
Henry III Generation accents fit with a collection of denim jeans, skirts and shorts featuring proprietary seam construction that uplifts, curves and flatters the rear end, as well as pant construction designed to create the illusion of longer, leaner legs. The debut collection includes straight, boot-cut and skinny styles with low and high rises and four washes, from light to dark indigo. Wholesale prices are $59 for HotPants to $118 for “scrunched”-leg novelty styles. Bermuda shorts, at $72 wholesale, already have become a top-booking item. The line is targeting upscale women and men who want style, fit and the little something extra provided by the proprietary construction process.
The label takes its name from Ahmadi-Miller’s husband, Henry S. Miller 3rd, chairman and chief executive officer of the company and also co-managing partner of Henry S. Miller Interests, a national real estate and retail development firm that owns Dallas’ Highland Park Village Shopping Center and West Village Shopping Center, among other properties.
About 75 specialty retailers across the U.S. have picked up the line for spring, including Neiman Marcus and Neiman Marcus Direct, Jean Connection in Dallas, Jean Therapy in New Orleans and Tupelo Honey in North Miami Beach, Fla.
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The label also is setting up a nonprofit foundation dedicated to helping women and children in Afghanistan whose lives have been affected by war. Among the foundation’s goals will be to help build schools, hospitals and housing.
“The launch of Henry III Generation is more than a fashion brand, it’s a heartfelt and very spiritual tribute to Angie’s life journey and the people that have helped and inspired her along with way, including her mother and the pair of jeans she crafted, an unknown man in Pakistan who helped Angie and her siblings and many others,” said Miller. “We’re reaching out to women and children whose lives have been and are still being touched by war and oppression.”