Jenna Andreola and David Lonstein launched Anlo about a year ago, looking to create a denim line with novelty touches for a mainstream customer. However, the pair was unprepared for the rapid growth they were about to experience.
“There was so much denim out there and it all seemed like a lot of the same to me,” said Andreola, who had worked in sales for contemporary brand Shoshanna. “I knew that if I wanted to start a line of my own, I needed to do something very different, since women already had so many jeans in their closets.”
Andreola said she noticed there were basics and extreme fashion pieces in the jeans area, but few items in the middle ground, so she created a line aimed at that median.
Andreola designs the line and Lonstein, who used to be in the real estate business and is designer Shoshanna Lonstein’s brother, handles the financial end. Anlo, a name that came from the first two letters of each founder’s last name, was launched at retail in May 2006, selling to about 12 boutiques. It was a dressier denim line, with attention to details.
The denim isn’t heavily washed, but features dark rinses to make it easy to dress up. The buttons are high quality — some made of patent leather, gold and wood. There’s a high-waisted style with side tabs that continues to sell well, Andreola said, in addition to the denim knickers with gold buttons and a denim dress that stores can’t seem to get enough of. The collection also includes high-waist skirts and trousers, Bermuda pants, shrunken jackets and tailored shorts. The Anlo line wholesales from $81 to $111.
“We want to give women a reason to buy our jeans, so they need to be eye-catching, but also sophisticated,” she said.
In August, Andreola and Lonstein, who are also a couple, moved from their home base in New York to Los Angeles, where the line is produced.
“If you want to be serious about the denim business, you just have to be in Los Angeles,” she said. “It’s been an adjustment for us, but businesswise, it just makes more sense.”
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Anlo is now sold in some 300 doors, ranging from Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus to Intermix, Shopbop.com and Scoop. By the end of 2007, Andreola said the line should reach about $8 million in sales. She said she eventually would like to launch men’s wear and even a line of knits to work with the denim. But that won’t happen right away.
“There’s so much more that can be done,” Lonstein said. “But first, I want to make sure that I can build a brand with longevity.”