Frank Mechaly

Last updated

Frank Mechaly
Born (1975-05-09) May 9, 1975 (age 46)
Marseille, France
OccupationFashion designer

Frank Mechaly (born May 9, 1975) in Marseille, France and raised in St. Tropez, is a jeans designer and brand maker, specializing in premium denim. Though he has successfully launched a number of brands including Sacred Blue and Blue Cult, [1] he is probably best known as the founder and creator of 575 DENIM (now being renamed May75 brand) which has been embraced by celebrities such as Cameron Diaz who made a point of publicly acknowledging her affinity for the jeans during an appearance on Saturday Night Live . Mechaly has now launched his much-anticipated new brand of premium denim called RockStar.

Contents

Biography

Family History

Coming from a family with a deeply rooted history in the trade, Frank's grandfather used to import Levi's jeans into Morocco in the 50s. [2] His father David Mechaly was the original creator and manufacturer of the legendary 70s brand MacKeen, which was the only premium denim brand with similar international recognition as Levis but started in the south of France. MacKeen did open offices in the U.S. and was worn by original cast members of Charlie's Angels (ironically Cameron Diaz who embraced Frank Mechaly's 575 DENIM jeans also starred in the modern remake of Charlie's Angels taking over the iconic role of Farrah Fawcett who wore his father's MacKeen jeans) Frank Mechaly's mother, Cathy Mechaly was also the original fit-model for MacKeen jeans.

Early years

Frank Mechaly draws upon his earliest memories of spending time at the factory with his father as the inspiration for his lifelong passion for designing jeans. Speaking in a candid interview he says: "I remember one particular Saturday morning back in the seventies, riding to the jeans factory with my father in his Porsche. I used to have free run of the entire factory as a child and in these days before stonewashing came about, I would go into one particular room and lie down in a huge pile of fresh denim, which has a very distinctive scent, and I knew at that time that I wanted to spend the rest of my life making jeans."

The young Mechaly spent many of his days playing in the factory and experimenting on his own designs using scraps of denim. But at nine years old family hardships hit the Mechaly family and his father experienced financial failure and the loss of his business. Frank went from attending private schools and having hired chauffeurs to public school and a very frugal living in which the family struggled.

Teen years

At age 15, [3] Frank quit school and at 16 moved to St. Tropez, where he began to work in retail clothing stores as a sales person. He soon moved on to buying vintage clothing, especially vintage Levis and reselling for a profit. Eventually this developed into the opening of his own vintage store. Every week he took a train to Rouen to purchase several large bagfuls of jeans, military issue shirts and football jerseys, which he then washed, repaired and resold.

By the age of 18, Frank began to design freelance and worked for brands such as Blanc Bleu, H.Landers, D.D.P., and Texola, which was his own brand. He also created the brand Culture Couture. He would later go on to design the first line of Seven7 jeans in 2003.

Adulthood

In 1999, Frank's father David Mechaly moved from south of France to Los Angeles to start a new jeans company. Frank sent him samples of his Culture Couture brand and they decided to produce the line in the U.S. However, due to trademark issues in the U.S. it was renamed [4] Blue Cult. Frank moved to the U.S. also.

Father and son separated. Then they reconciled their partnership to promote Frank's line Sacred Blue. But problems were apparent and in 2004 Frank Mechaly left the company of Blue Cult/Sacred Blue with nothing, only the intention of giving up and moving back to France. A female love interest at the time convinced him to stay in the U.S., which he did and then started the now famous brand 575 DENIM, which was started in July 2004 and incorporated in August 2004. Frank was helped by Maurice Marciano, the CEO of Guess, Inc, who hired him to produce private label apparel and admired his distinctive vintage, distressed and worn details in jeans.

Brands

575 DENIM

The first year that 575 DENIM brand launched, it was immensely successful. [5] It was embraced by celebrities and particularly noted when actress [6] Cameron Diaz, who was never paid for any endorsements, actually went to stores requesting to buy 575 DENIM and then wearing them at red carpet events and during her Saturday Night Live appearance. The brand was anticipated to have continued success when towards the end of 2004 they were sued by Levi Strauss & Co.

LEVI STRAUSS & Co. vs. Frank Mechaly

LEVI STRAUSS filed civil case number C 06 2402 against Frank Mechaly and his Jeanius Corporation because they felt that the 575 DENIM brand was infringing upon their 500 series jeans. Mechaly claimed that he never had any intention of doing that and that the brand was inspired by his birthday, which was on May 9, 1975 (5-75) and that he had simply wanted to stand out by using a number rather than a word or letters like most other brands.

The case was extremely costly for Mechaly, financially and emotionally. He spent three years in litigation to the point that he lost 90% of his business due to being unable to run daily operations while fighting the lawsuit. He was no longer able to pay the 300 employees he had on payroll and in 2007 he ran out of resources and chose to give in to a settlement. Part of the settlement stated that over the course of a year the brand name must change from 575 to [7] MAY75.

RockStar

Frank Mechaly's next project was to launch his new brand "Rockstar".

Backed up by his good friend Richard Koral, Mechaly embarked on an ambitious new venture of launching a line of premium denim, dresses and shirts under the RockStar brand. His stated intentions are to maintain utmost quality in fabric, fit and formula, using the finest fabrics from Europe and Japan but completely produced and marketed in the U.S., utilizing U.S. workers rather than outsourcing to China, therefore insuring complete control over the quality and integrity of the process. RockStar is to be THE fashion high-end denim, according to Mechaly.

Related Research Articles

Jeans Trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth

Jeans are a type of pants or trousers made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in partnership with Levi Strauss & Co. in 1871 and patented by Jacob W. Davis and Levi Strauss on May 20, 1873. Prior to the Levi Strauss patented trousers, the term "blue jeans" had been long in use for various garments, constructed from blue-colored denim.

Denim Warp-faced textile

Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This twill weaving produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. While a denim predecessor known as dungaree has been produced in India for hundreds of years, denim as it is recognized today was first produced in Nîmes, France.

Lévis or Levis may be:

Levi Strauss & Co. American clothing company

Levi Strauss & Co. is an American clothing company known worldwide for its Levi's brand of denim jeans. It was founded in May 1853 when German immigrant Levi Strauss moved from Buttenheim, Bavaria, to San Francisco, California, to open a west coast branch of his brothers' New York dry goods business. Although the corporation is registered in Delaware, the company's corporate headquarters is located in Levi's Plaza in San Francisco.

Overalls Protective clothing

Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers".

Diesel S.p.A. is an Italian retail clothing company, located in Breganze, Italy. It sells denim, and other clothing, footwear, and accessories. The clothing line has two different brands: Diesel and Diesel Black Gold. There is also a line for children, called Diesel Kid. The company is known for its surreal advertising campaigns.

Wrangler is an American manufacturer of jeans and other clothing items, particularly workwear. The brand is owned by Kontoor Brands Inc., which also owns Lee. Its headquarters is in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina, in the United States, with production plants in a variety of locations throughout the world.

Jordache American clothing, real estate and aviation company

Jordache Enterprises, Inc. is an American clothing company that markets apparel, including shirts, jeans, and outerwear. The brand is known for its designer jeans that were popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Since the 2000s, Jordache has also diversified into real estate in the United States and other ventures in Israel. The brand name Jordache is a contraction of Joe, Ralph, David, and Avi Naccache (Nakash).

Alfred Sung is a Canadian fashion designer and businessman. He is well known for producing apparel, fragrance, accessories and home fashions for women and men. He was born in Shanghai and raised in Hong Kong. Sung is the brother of late Hong Kong actress Lydia Shum. He is also a founder of Club Monaco, a mid-priced, high-end casual clothing retailer.

Designer clothing is expensive luxury clothing considered to be high quality and haute couture for the general public, made by, or carrying the label of, a well-known fashion designer.

The Great Western Garment Company (GWG) was a Canadian denim and western wear clothing company founded in 1911 in Edmonton, Alberta by Charles A. Graham and Alexander Cameron Rutherford.

G-Star Raw Dutch designer clothing company

G-Star RAW is a Dutch designer clothing company, founded by Jos van Tilburg in Amsterdam in 1989. The brand specializes in making raw denim—an unwashed, untreated denim. G-Star is influenced by military clothing. Inspirations of their designs come from vintage military apparel from around the world.

Jean jacket

A denim jacket, also called a jean jacket or trucker jacket, is a jacket made from denim. Introduced in the United States in the late 19th century, it has been a popular type of casual apparel with both men and women and has been described as an iconic element of American fashion. Though a staple of western wear, the denim jacket has also enjoyed a more general appeal.

Jacob W. Davis Lithuanian Jewish-born American tailor (1831–1908)

Jacob William Davis was a Lithuanian Jewish-born American tailor who is credited with inventing modern jeans. Growing up in Lithuania, he emigrated to the United States as a young man and spent some time in Canada as well. He invented jeans by using sturdy cloth and rivets to strengthen weak points in the seams, and partnered with Levi Strauss to mass-produce them.

Ian Berry (artist)

Ian Berry is a British born artist based in Poplar, East London who creates artwork solely from denim. Berry re-uses jeans, jackets, and other denim clothing to create portraits, landscapes and other unique works.

Tilmann Wröbel

Tilmann Wröbel is a Franco-German fashion designer born in 1964 in Düsseldorf, Germany. He is now working and living in Biarritz, France & Düsseldorf, Germany.

Arvind (company) Indian textile company

Arvind Limited is a textile manufacturer and the flagship company of the Lalbhai Group. Its headquarters are in Naroda, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, and it has units at Santej. The company manufactures cotton shirting, denim, knits and bottomweight (khaki) fabrics. It has also recently ventured into technical textiles when it started Advanced Materials Division in 2011. It is India's largest denim manufacturer

Adriano Goldschmied Italian fashion designer

Adriano Goldschmied is an Italian fashion designer who focuses on denim jeans. He is known as "the Godfather of denim" and is the originator of “premium denim”. The founder of Diesel, he also created Replay, Gap 1969, Agolde, Goldsign, and AG Adriano Goldschmied. Goldschmied is currently the owner of House of Gold, a creative textile company with the purpose of bringing innovative fabrics to the market.

MUD Jeans Sustainable and fair trade certified denim brand based in The Netherlands

MUD Jeans is a sustainable and fair trade certified denim brand based in The Netherlands. MUD Jeans satisfies the principles of the circular economy. The MUD Jeans are made from 40% recycled content, with the material being derived from discarded jeans. The main business concept of the company it to lease its apparel to consumers. After the lease period of one year, consumers can switch them for another pair and continue leasing, return them for recycling or upcycling purposes, or keep them. The lease contract includes free unlimited repair services. This concept is called Lease A Jeans and was launched in 2013.

DL1961 is a global premium denim brand that is carried in hundreds of stores. The brand was founded in 2008 using XFIT LYCRA, a fabric it has patented. XFIT is a cotton-wrapped Lycra thread intertwined with polyester made by DL parent company ADM Denim, which was founded by Faisal and Meliha Ahmed. The company uses an eco-friendly manufacturing process that it introduced in 2013 to use less water, waste, and dye. The brand has a maternity line.

References

  1. ↑ Staff – "Franck Mechaly: Mister Jeans" (Elle Magazine, French version, pg 35, July 31, 2006)
  2. ↑ Sarkisian-Miller, Nola – "Blue Genes: Frank Mechaly's line of blue jeans debuts" (Women's Wear Daily, October 23, 2003)
  3. ↑ CoutureCandy.com | Fashion Designer Biography of 575 DENIM
  4. ↑ Khanh T.L. Tran – "Blue Cult Returns to the U.S." (Women's Wear Daily, pg 8, Dec. 13, 2007)
  5. ↑ Padilla, Max – "Lucky Numbers" (Sportswear News, Issue #9, pg 40, 2006)
  6. ↑ Staff – "Behind the Seams with Cameron Diaz" (People Magazine, April 15, 2007)
  7. ↑ "MAY 75". Archived from the original on February 11, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.