NEW YORK — Stacy Morgenstern started her contemporary T-shirt line, Deesh, about five years ago, and had a plan to eventually grow the brand beyond tops. Now that vision is becoming a reality.
Morgenstern, who began her career working as an assistant to Elie Tahari and got design experience at Izod, just signed a deal with the new Jars Design Group LLC here. Jars is a division of Ikeddi Enterprises, a $50 million producer of private label apparel, and was formed in July for licensing purposes. Deesh is its first brand.
Now, because of its widely recognized boy-and-girl silhouettes logo, the company has changed the name of the brand to Boy Meets Girl by Deesh. Morgenstern said the line will expand to become a full sportswear collection, beginning with the spring collection.
“I have always wanted to make this brand a full lifestyle, but I realized that there was just no way, financially, that I could do it on my own,” she said. “Jars has great production facilities that will really allow me to expand creatively.”
Deesh has been sold at major retailers such as Macy’s and Bergdorf Goodman. With the relaunch, Morgenstern said she hopes to keep the relationships she has cultivated.
“I’ve placed the line in more than 60 specialty stores already, and I am happy with the results,” she said. “The line is so much better than ever.”
Based on creating fashionable tops using supersoft fabrics, Boy Meets Girl by Deesh will continue to grow using the same soft fabrics. Morgenstern said she will use soft cottons, linens and Modals to add leggings, dresses, skirts and pants to the collection.
With her own showroom at 231 West 39th Street here, Morgenstern said the company will grow beyond sportswear, eventually launching products in categories such as legwear, sleepwear and lingerie. Her goal is to reach $5 million within the first year of the relaunch, with an additional $1 million in sales from the revamped Web site, deeshdesigns.com. The sportswear wholesales from $22 to $80.
“Now that we have the infrastructure to grow, the possibilities are endless,” she said. “There is so much I want to do.”