Collaboration Nation: Goldsign x J. Crew women’s denim
Goldsign, the 8-year-old Los Angeles-based denim label founded by jeans genius Adriano Goldschmied, has teamed up with J. Crew to offer a troika of women’s denim pieces set to hit the retailer’s shelves Monday.
The collection has its inspirational roots in a New York to Los Angeles plane flight during which Goldschmied was reading the book “Andre de Dienes: Marilyn” and found himself captivated by a photograph of the young Norma Jeane Baker.
“She was honest, sincere, full of energy, and motivated to succeed,” Goldschmied explains, “[D]ressed in red, white and blue (jeans); she was the epitome of the ‘American Dream’ of the 1950s.”
The resulting collaboration, two blue jean silhouettes and a skirt, reflect Goldschmied’s fascination with the young women of that Hollywood era and what he calls their “naivete, youth and ambition.”
The pieces, including a high-waisted slim-fitting style (“Jeane”), a cuffed five-pocket jean (“Jenny”) and a ‘50s-inspired pencil skirt (“Holly”), are set the shelves of select bricks-and-mortar J. Crew stores Monday, followed by jcrew.com on Feb. 27. Retail prices will range from $198 to $288.
Goldsign, launched in February 2005, is the most recent venture in Goldschmied’s nearly half century in the premium denim business, a career that has earned him the nickname “the godfather of denim.” Although he sold the label in 2007 to Huntington Park-based premium denim label Citizens of Humanity, he continues to serve as its creative director.
Goldsign x J. Crew is the latest in a string of high-profile denim collaborations, including Christopher Kane and J. Brand (for the Resort 2012 collection currently in stores), Peter Som and Earnest Sewn -- a seven-piece, floral-print collection, Mary Katrantzou’s partnership with Current/Elliott, a smorgasbord of popping prints and bold patterns, and Levis’ floral-print collaboration with London-based Liberty, all of which will be hitting retail for Spring 2013.
And, with its new “Stylist Series” (which we first told you about here), AG Adriano Goldschmied (the brand, not the man) is taking a slightly different approach to creative cross-pollination by tapping stylists instead of designers. The first 14-piece collection, created by celebrity stylist Cher Coulter, whose client list includes Nicole Richie, Rosie Huntington-Whitley and Kate Bosworth, debuts Jan. 30.
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