LOS ANGELES — Unlike most premium denim players, Mel Matsui doesn’t clamor after celebrity endorsements or media hype.
His objective has been to offer his line of Christopher Blue jeans to women who covet the slender cuts and low rises of most trendy jeans labels, but need a fit that is more forgiving.
It’s a tactic that seems to have worked. The 10-year-old Seattle company will end 2006 with about $43 million in sales, up from $29 million in 2005. The company is poised to launch new categories in 2007, a move that Matsui believes should increase sales by 20 percent.
“We don’t advertise, and we’re not tied into any celebrities, wannabes or queen bees,” said Matsui. “It’s basically a jean that fits.”
Christopher Blue is named after his son with his wife, Barbara, who runs the business with Matsui. Additions to the core collection for next year include, for spring, Worn, a men’s denim line that will wholesale for $48 to $55, and Pine IV, which Matsui describes as a “super premium line for a woman who hasn’t had kids” that just was launched to the market.
“It’s meant to hang with the big-hype boys and all the Los Angeles and New York brands,” said Matsui of Pine IV, which carries a $200 price tag. “It’s a small, compact line using Japanese denim, and the fit is more extreme, suitable for the supermodel type. We want to compete on that level.”
In keeping with current denim trends, Pine IV is clean with no whiskers or nicks, and for fall will feature velveteen and corduroy fabrics. Also upcoming is a new line of knit tops that will start shipping in the spring.
“Everything has Lycra in it so, like the jeans, the line will be based on fit,” he said. The tops have a wholesale price of $60.
Despite the launches, Matsui said the core appeal of Christopher Blue would not change. When the company was founded out of his home, the premium market didn’t really exist, so the collection’s starting price of $55 wholesale was one of the highest in the market.
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“We started shipping the stretch jeans in 2002, and that’s when it all broke loose,” he said. “We’re not leather-jacket people who got into denim. We’re totally focused on fit, and we’ve learned over the years that fit is the lasting quality, rather than hype and celebrity endorsements.”
Matsui worked for Quiksilver and Code Bleu before launching his own line, which was acquired in October 2005 by apparel conglomerate HartMax Corp. The line is in about 1,500 doors nationwide, including specialty stores and major department stores.
A spokeswoman at Neiman Marcus said its buyers were drawn to the line because of the “need for denim with an updated contemporary look and styling, but with a misses’ fit.” Top sellers include the Juku, a high-rise, skinny jean that is still relaxed.
Matsui said despite the proliferation of high-end jeans, there remains a dearth of options in the better contemporary segment.
“It’s such a specialized market that we like to think we kind of stand on our own,” he said. “It’s nice to be in a category that everyone neglects. We make jeans for women who are not a prisoner of that denim L.A. fashion look, so she doesn’t have to look foolish or vulgar and is more about looking appropriate and comfortable.”