LOS ANGELES — This year has been a turning point for Trovata, the three-year-old contemporary brand conceived in a college dorm.
Settled in their Newport Beach, Calif., offices after winning the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award, the four young founders — John Whitledge, Sam Shipley, Josia Lamberto-Egan and Jeff Halmos — are trying to hold onto the glow and stay focused on the task of building a lifestyle brand.
The company prevailed against 10 selected finalists for the honor, which includes mentoring from industry vets plus $200,000 to be applied in developing sales, marketing, production and public relations.
“Trovata captures the spirit of what’s happening now,” said Stan Herman, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. “These are guys who went into the midtier price range with the intention of creating a large, long-term business. The fact they are West Coast driven, that’s a boost for the way American fashion is going.”
The brand has a beach-meets-prepster sensibility, a little worn, a little sophisticated, which resonates with shoppers at Liberty and Harvey Nichols in London, Barneys in Japan and specialty boutiques Stateside such as Louis Boston, Steve Allen in New York and Fred Segal in Los Angeles.
Shipley, 26; Whitledge, 26; Lamberto-Egan, 28, and Halmos, 26, are simply trying to savor the fleeting moments these days after the Nov. 10 gala. Actress Tilda Swinton presented them with the prize in front of designers they worship: Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs and Donna Karan. They received watches in cardinal red boxes from underwriter Cartier. They talked with J.Lo.
“That night was so surreal and over the top, it’s as if it didn’t happen,” Whitledge said.
But reality intrudes with ringing phones and unanswered e-mails.
“We got to the office today and it’s been business as usual,” Halmos said.
And, in a sense, that’s a relief.
Trovata bowed in New York during fashion week in February because of a $25,000 grant from the Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation, funded by Ecco Domani wines. The fledgling brand, known until then for men’s clothes, used the occasion to launch a women’s collection to great reviews and sales.
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At the first Los Angeles Fashion Awards in October, during fashion week here, Trovata was nominated for the Moss Adams Fashion Innovator Award. That same afternoon across town at the Chateau Marmont, a few looks from the spring collection were showcased, alongside those by fellow fashion fund finalists. It was the second key event the finalists participated in leading to this month’s grand event, and just as nerve-racking as the others. In the front row were Lindsay Lohan, Selma Blair, Alexis Bledel and Elizabeth Banks, along with invited fashion editors, retail buyers and celebrity stylists.
“They address a market that wants a lot of style and well-priced, well-made clothes,” said Julie Gilhart, vice president, fashion director of Barneys New York and part of the eight-member fashion fund selection committee. For example, the women’s fall collection wholesales from a $21 T-shirt to a $65 poplin blouse and a $100 wool skirt to a $180 tweed wool coat.
“There’s nothing complicated about their style, either,” Gilhart added. “It’s this crisp yet worn-in feel, with lots of charm to it. Yet it’s also highly detailed: the top stitching, the printed lining.”
Trovata’s strength lies in offering great American staples — a twill blazer, a button shirt, a crew sweater — tweaked just enough to stand out.
Patches of tissue-thin cotton, scripted with a few sentences from the fictional story lines that characterize each season, are stitched onto a jacket sleeve or on the bottom of a shirt. A velvet ribbon runs inside the waistband or collar of a blouse. Or one button is sewn on in red thread when the rest are another color.
In a sign of the brand’s influence, the flourishes are already being copied by admirers in the marketplace.
“Sure, we see it, but we never thought of this or that as a signature detail,” insisted Whitledge, who serves as creative director. Lamberto-Egan oversees production; Halmos, sales and press, and Shipley, art and design. But that’s just what their business cards read. Ultimately, the four collaborate on every aspect of the company, coming together to discuss the story lines and silhouettes, distribution channels and quality control.
“We sit and come up with the concepts together,” said Whitledge, who discovered his interest in fashion while working at a surf shop before college. “But we also figured out quickly that not everyone could do everything.”
Their paths crossed inevitably, and sometimes literally. Halmos and Shipley met at a crosswalk while the two were attending the University of Colorado. A Pop Art painter, Shipley had screen-printed and sold his art on T-shirts while in high school. Halmos met Whitledge in school when they were barely teens.
Whitledge and Lamberto-Egan were introduced by their girlfriends at Claremont College, east of Los Angeles, where the two studied politics and economics, respectively. “We realized we wanted to do something where we could travel and surf, so we just focused on starting this clothing company,” Whitledge recalled.
While much has been made of their surfing and skateboarding pastimes, as well as a headquarters staffed with nine full-time employees and two interns situated just a five-minute stroll to the beach, it’s only a slice of the Trovata story. Whitledge pours over musty National Geographic magazines for direction, and Shipley pressed on until he found an old copy of the 1969 Robert Redford ski flick “Downhill Racer.” But once found, Shipley laughed, “We had to borrow a VHS player to watch it.”
The four dig deep in fiction and history to compose the seasonal tales that accompany each collection of old moneyed individuals gone on safari, gone to a garden party or just plain gone.
The long haul, steady and strategic, has been their MO from the start.
“We are trying to build a brand identity around this lifestyle we’re trying to lead,” Halmos said. “So there’s room to create product spin-offs — bedding, home furnishings, handbags. But it’s not something we want to do yet. Right now we want to focus on the clothes.”
The line is still developing, they pointed out. With spring 2006, women’s is only in its second season, although it has accounted for 45 percent of sales. Retailers demanded versions of the men’s line for women, and the inaugural fall collection reflected that. But buoyed by the response (including from their girlfriends), the team believes there’s room for silk skirts and more dresses.
Trovata did flirt with other categories this year, offering a couple of limited-edition collaborations: a leather and corduroy lace-up sneaker with Vans, and sunglasses with wood temples with eyewear maker Initium.
Despite an openness in personalities and ideas, the partners would not comment about company sales.
“We have a lot of time ahead of us and we’re in no rush” Halmos said. “Just because of this award we’re not going to go crazy and open up in 20 department stores overnight.”
Still, he admitted “after this latest award hit, the phones went off the hook in Japan.” Trovata already has a presence there, with a distributor showroom in Tokyo, as well as in Sydney, London, Düsseldorf, Montreal and Paris.
Next phase expansion efforts are in Asia outside of Japan and Hong Kong in countries such as Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam, Halmos added. Scandinavia is also on the list, as is the Middle East.
Despite the dreamy year, the Trovata guys are realistic.
“The effect of the award might not be something we really realize until even 2007 in terms of our brand and sales,” Halmos said. “Of course, there’s some short-term results — greater attention, press. But it’s not really going to kick in until our mentors help and we really develop the women’s line.”
Echoing his partners, Whitledge added: “We’re running a marathon, not a sprint.”