With 35 years in the apparel business, J Brand jeans cofounder Jeff Rudes has seen his share of ups and downs. But a second California coronavirus shutdown “could cripple the industry,” the seasoned executive said, trying to stay upbeat as he chatted about the resilience of his contemporary brand, L’Agence, which is venturing into a new category — footwear — for fall.
“When you look at L’Agence, what’s it all about, it’s not runway, it’s not tricky,” he said. “It’s California lifestyle with French attitude. On our shirts, we don’t even have the top two buttons, we start where we feel a woman should open her shirt, we do things like that. Our woman — we know her well — wants to feel sexy.
Rudes prefers domestic production for apparel. L’Agence makes jeans, T-shirts and some cut-and-sew knits in L.A. “We know how to turn things fast; we’re going to pay a little more, but we’re willing to sacrifice on margin during this period to not charge our stores more. You can’t beat the speed to market of Made in the USA. So we have an advantage there, and there’s beautiful fabric here.”