In just 6 short years, Premiere exhibitor J Brand has firmly established itself as the designer denim go-to for celebrities, fashion folk and royalty. Given the regular updates on `who’s wearing what’ in J Brand styles that seem to drop daily into my inbox, it’s safe to say they are here to stay. And luxury fashion designers love the brand too, with past colabs including Proenza Schouler, Christopher Kane, and Hussein Chalayan. So it comes as no surprise that the denim aficionado’s recently announced the launch of their own high-end ready-to-wear line for Spring 2012.
The 140-piece collection will include office-to-evening separates priced from $200 to $1,500 and we are told it will hang alongside the likes of Isabel Marant and Rag & Bone. The palate plays safe with lilac, black and grey in luxe fabrics such as silk chiffon and lambskin.
The newly appointed design director Donald Oliver (who has former lives at Vera Wang and Calvin Klein) told Fashionologie;
“We paid a lot of attention to details, making the garment feel special to the wearer,” Oliver said, adding of the intended customer: “We wanted her to be easygoing, uncomplicated, subtly sophisticated. We wanted her to feel relevant, not trendy, not like she’s trying too hard, which is why I think the garments have an ease about them.”
For an honest review of the RTW line, read Cathy Horyn’s report from The New York Times, who `was prepared to be skeptical’ but remarked how Donald Oliver, the creative director, `has done a great job incorporating useful elements of quality (nice linings, say, and Japanese fabrics) into garments like notched-lapel jackets and cool sweatshirts done in black leather or a linen-cotton blend.’
Congratulations J Brand.
