Jeff Rudes and his companions began L’Agence in 2008 with the thought of making a up to date womenswear assortment that had the glamour of Paris with the cool vibe of California.
Over time, the label has grown to incorporate the whole lot from eveningwear and daywear to weekend clothes, enterprise apparel and extra. Not too long ago, swimwear, footwear, belts and candles had been added to spherical out the choice present in 4 L’Agence shops and 300 wholesale accounts.
Despite the fact that L’Agence has supplied denim since 2018, Rudes, the corporate’s chairman and artistic director, felt there was a have to dig deeper. In spite of everything, denim is in his blood. He based J Model denims in late 2004 and offered 80 p.c of the Los Angeles denims firm in late 2012 for almost $300 million to Quick Retailing Co., the Japanese mother or father firm of Uniqlo.
And denim is on-trend as soon as once more, with almost each luxurious model exhibiting it on the runway from Balmain to Schiaparelli, and early 2000s nostalgia presently fueling the return of low-rise, dishevelled and bedazzled denims, denim-on-denim appears and extra.
So, after a 12 months of strategizing, Rudes has opened a brand new retail idea known as L’Agence Jean Bar. The primary jean bar opened Friday, taking on L’Agence’s first retail outpost on Melrose Place in West Hollywood.
Contained in the 1,100-square-foot area, there’s not a single silk gown, jersey cardigan or wide-leg trouser in sight. As a substitute, there’s a curated row of denims in numerous silhouettes and washes, neatly hanging on a metallic set up within the retailer’s heart. Denims are additionally displayed on the wall like conceptual artwork. Additionally out there are denim shirts, jackets and skirts.
Prospects can are available, inform a stylist what sort of denims they need after which have that information entered into an iPad. Up pops quite a few recommendations for denims that begin at $245 and are made in Los Angeles. Or clients can simply browse the denims displayed and resolve what they wish to strive on.
The outside of the L’Agence Jean Bar in West Hollywood. Photograph by Josh Cho.
Denims bars are nothing new, however they had been extra prolific within the Sixties when Fred Segal, the legendary Los Angeles retailer, launched Pants America, his tiny retailer on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood that specialised in blue denims. He saved that idea however expanded into an even bigger venue, including California up to date merchandise and altering the shop identify to Fred Segal. The placement turned well-known worldwide and was an integral a part of a fashionista’s Southern California go to. (Two years in the past, Fred Segal relaunched its Unique Jean Bar, beginning with its West Hollywood flagship.)
“Shops which have a denim atmosphere don’t exist anymore,” Rudes mentioned, saying he has traveled all over the world and doesn’t see jean bars like earlier than. “Let’s return 15 years in the past, when Barneys New York did one of the best job of making a denim atmosphere. Whenever you went in, you had been within the denims atmosphere, and also you had been there to buy denims. You knew you had been going to spend time attempting on denims. It was an amazing expertise, and also you left with a purchase order that you simply cherished.”
Rudes is aware of quite a bit about Barneys New York’s denim atmosphere as a result of he offered many, many J Model denims to the division retailer chain that closed all its shops in 2020 and offered its mental rights to Genuine Manufacturers Group. However the concept of a denim area devoted to at least one product by no means left him.
Additionally, L’Agence’s denim enterprise began exploding final 12 months, he mentioned, and now accounts for 40 to 45 p.c of revenues, which he declined to disclose. Rudes desires to boost that to 50 p.c of revenues by mid-2025 by offering a buyer devoted service with an in-house denim specialist.
L’Agence Trend Director Tara Rudes-Dann mentioned the jean bar creates an area for a girl to come back in to choose the wash and silhouette she desires. “Our buyer is a chameleon. Sooner or later she desires a cargo pant, then the following day she wears a large leg,” mentioned Rudes-Dann, the niece of Jeff Rudes.
Denim desire are arduous to foretell, she famous, as a result of even with all the brand new pant silhouettes on the market, the L’Agence slim denims are nonetheless among the many model’s bestsellers.
The dressing rooms on the jean bar. Photograph by Josh Cho.
On the jean bar, the shoppers’ expertise continues within the dressing rooms the place they’ll spend time attempting on denims and dealing with the in-house stylist. Every dressing room, shrouded in darkish blue curtains, has a pair L’Agence’s kitten-heel mules to strive on with the denims to get the total look.
Whereas denims and different denim merchandise are the one factor on the shop’s menu, clients can have a stylist flip by means of the iPad to show L’Agence merchandise that might both be paired with denims or worn individually. It may be delivered the following day or picked up within the close by Beverly Hills retailer.
Rudes envisions establishing scores of jean bars across the nation, outnumbering L’Agence shops. At the moment, there are 4 L’Agence shops in Beverly Hills and Malibu in California, a Madison Avenue retailer in New York Metropolis whose dimension might be tripled, and a lately opened Paris retailer within the Marais district. An outpost in Seoul might be unveiled later this 12 months in addition to a Trend Island location in Newport Seashore, Calif.
“I might say for each L’Agence retailer we open, we may open 10 jean bars as a result of they’re comparatively small,” Rudes mentioned. “We wouldn’t open a L’Agence retailer in Austin, Texas, however we’d open a jean bar. We’d not open a L’Agence retailer in Nashville, however we’d open a jean bar.”
Rudes mentioned opening a denim-centric retailer is way much less precarious than opening a bigger location with numerous merchandise. “Girls love their denims,” he famous. “I might say there’s not quite a lot of threat so long as we’ve got the cachet and status of getting top-of-the-line denims round.”
