 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Designer jeans, clothing |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Founders | Kym Gold Jeff Lubell |
| Headquarters | Gardena, California, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Michael Buckley CEO |
| Website | www |
True Religion Brand Jeans is an American clothing company established in 2002 by Jeff Lubell and Kym Gold and is based in Vernon, California.
True Religion brand designer jeans are manufactured from premium denim. They also make designer clothing, some of which is made in the United States. In 2009, True Religion was sold in about 900 boutiques and specialty stores in 50 countries on six continents. [1] In May 2021, the company owned 50 retail stores in 30 countries. [2]
Unusually, the brand began with the 2002 production of about 14,000 pairs of jeans, being, the co-founder Lubell has remarked, contrary to the typical business model, in which "you make a sample line, go to market, get orders, and ship your production." [3] The company adopted a business model in which everything was outsourced, depending on contractors "to do everything." [3]
Its flagship store opened in 2005, in Manhattan Beach, California. True Religion products are also sold at major department stores, including Von Maur, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue. [4]
In November 2019, the company's former president [5] Michael Buckley was appointed CEO, returning to aid in recovery from bankruptcy. [6] Subsequently, Buckley re-hired designer Zihaad Wells as creative director, who had, in late 2006, resigned from Levi's in Europe to join True Religion, [5] also at Buckley's request. [6]
Following two bankruptcy filings, in 2017 and 2020, the brand closed some stores. [7] The company appeared to rebound in 2021, with sales topping $235 million. [5] [6]
True Religion was purchased by TowerBrook Capital Partners on May 10, 2013. The acquisition provided shareholders a 52% premium to True Religion's share price on October 9, 2012. [8] The stock had fallen 40% in 2012 up to October 9, 2012, due to a poor pre-Christmas sales in 2011, and concern that a shrinking number of shoppers were willing to purchase True Religion's high-priced jeans. [9] Forbes also noted that, over the prior three years, True Religion shares had gained just 11.6% while shares in comparable luxury-goods companies VF Corporation, Ralph Lauren Corporation, and PVH Corp. had each more than doubled in value. [9] Prior to the purchase, True Religion traded on NASDAQ under the symbol TRLG. [10]
True Religion filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 5, 2017, acknowledging that it had $534.7 million in liabilities and only $243.3 million in assets. [7] It then announced the closure of 27 stores in the United States. [11]
In April 2020, the design company again filed for bankruptcy, [12] closing 37 locations, resulting in a total of 49 stores remaining. The second bankruptcy was completed in November 2020, [5] and the company was considered to have rebounded the following year. [5] [6]
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.
Aéropostale Inc., is an American shopping mall–based retailer of casual apparel and accessories, principally aimed at young adults and teenagers. Aéropostale maintains control over its proprietary brands by designing, sourcing, marketing, and selling all of its own merchandise. The company sells via Aéropostale stores in the United States and through its e-commerce site.
Bugle Boy Industries, Inc. was a clothing company founded by William Mow in 1977. It is best known for its namesake brand of denim jeans that were popular in the 1980s. The company declared bankruptcy in 2001.
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).
The Buckle, Inc. is an American fashion retailer selling clothing, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and children. The company operates 451 stores in 42 states throughout the United States of America, under the names Buckle and The Buckle. Buckle markets brand name and private label apparel, including denim, other casual bottoms, tops and shirts, dresses and rompers, sportswear and athleisure, outerwear, footwear, swimwear, fragrances, sunglasses, bags and purses, wallets, and other accessories.
Designer clothing is clothing designed by a particular fashion designer or licensed by a person or brand. It is often luxury clothing proven to be high quality and haute couture for the general public, made by, or carrying the label of, a well-known designer. Licensing of designer names has been a common practice within the fashion industry since about the 1970s. Designer clothing comprises numerous types of apparel, including designer jeans that often cost several hundreds of dollars.
Ann Inc. is an American group of specialty apparel retail chain stores for women. The company headquartered in New York City and currently operates as a subsidiary of Ascena Retail Group. The stores offer classic-styled suits, separates, dresses, shoes and accessories. The brand is marketed under five divisions: Ann Taylor, Loft, Lou & Grey, Ann Taylor Factory, and Loft Outlet.
Justice is a clothing brand sold exclusively through Walmart targeting the tween girl market. In 2020, it became a brand owned by the private equity firm Bluestar Alliance.
Ascena Retail Group, Inc., is an American retailer of women's clothing. Ascena also owns Lane Bryant clothing store brand, and is the parent company of Ann Inc., operator of Ann Taylor and Loft stores.
Southpole is an American wholesale clothing and fashion company, designer, distributor, licensor, and marketer based in Fort Lee, New Jersey, with operating headquarters in New York City. The company was founded in 1991 by two Korean American brothers, David Khym and Kenny Khym under their company name, Wicked Fashions Inc. The company's showroom is located on Fashion Avenue in Manhattan.
Duck Head is a brand name for clothing and shoes in the United States. First registered as a trademark in the late 19th century, the name has been used by several different manufacturers and retailers of apparel, primarily in the southern United States. Duck Head apparel had a period of great popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s.
G-Star RAW is a Dutch designer clothing company, founded by Jos van Tilburg in Amsterdam in 1989.
Calvin Klein Inc. is an American fashion house which markets its eponymously branded products worldwide. The company, which became famous for its designer underwear and denim lines in the 1980s, specializes in mass-market ready-to-wear clothing for all genders and age groups as well as leather products, lifestyle accessories and shoes, home furnishings, perfume/cosmetics, eyewear, jewelry and watches in the mid-price segment. Its high-end runway fashion division, which represented the top level of the various Calvin Klein sub-brands, was discontinued in 2019.
Destination XL Group, Inc. (DXLG) is a leading retailer of Men's Big and Tall apparel with 290 retail and outlet store locations throughout the United States operated under the business subsidiaries DXL and Casual Male XL. The company also operates an e-commerce website (dxl.com) and an Android and iOS mobile app serving customers in the United States, Canada, The United Kingdom, Greater China and other global markets. The company is headquartered in Canton, Massachusetts, and is listed on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol "DXLG".
Frank Mechaly 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, he is probably best known as the founder and creator of 575 DENIM 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.
Vanity, also known as Vanity Shops, was an American specialty chain of fashion retailers that sold apparel and accessories targeted to fashion-conscious young females, online and in stores. The company was headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. The fashion retailer's clothing items ranged in size from zero to 17 with pants inseam lengths of up to 37 inches (940 mm). Vanity filed for bankruptcy and closed its stores in 2017.
Ralph Lauren Corporation, the legal name of the Ralph Lauren brand, is an American publicly traded fashion company that was founded in 1967 by American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. Headquartered in New York City, the company produces products ranging from the mid-range to the luxury segments. Ralph Lauren is known for marketing and distributing products in four categories: apparel, home, accessories, and fragrances. Known mostly for its flagship brand Polo Ralph Lauren, the company's brands include mid-range, sub-premium, and premium labels up to its highest priced luxury Ralph Lauren Purple Label apparel.
Edison Brothers Stores, Inc., was a retail conglomerate based in St. Louis, Missouri. It operated numerous retail chains mainly located in shopping malls, mostly in the fields of shoes, clothing and entertainment, with Bakers Shoes as its flagship chain. The company was liquidated in 1999, though some of the chains it operated continued under different owners.
DSTLD is an American clothing company, founded in 2014 by Corey Epstein, Ryan Jaleh and Mark Lynn and backed by Asher New York Holdings. The California-based company designs and retails a line of mostly denim-based clothing. The company has become known for its relatively affordable pricing, environmentally friendly design and manufacturing, a direct-to-consumer retail strategy.
Kym Gold is an American fashion and home design executive. She is the founder of Bella Dahl, Hippie Jeans, Babakul, and Style Union Home, and the co-founder of designer jeans brand True Religion. Gold's designs have been worn by David Beckham, Tom Ford, Angelina Jolie, Donna Karan, Heidi Klum, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gwen Stefani, Holly Robinson Peete, and Justin Timberlake. Her work has been included in Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, and Rolling Stone magazines.