California Apparel News

The last three months have been very, very busy for Los Angeles designer Christopher Enuke.

The Nigerian-born and Britain-raised designer recently joined forces with Koos Manufacturing Inc. as the design director of AG Adriano Goldschmied, filling a position left vacant by designer Adriano Goldschmied, who exited Koos to start a new company.

In addition, Koos will manufacture Oligo Tissew, Enuke’s denim and knitwear line.

The company previewed the lines under Enuke’s design direction and bowed its new Sam and Billy denim line Feb. 14–17 at MAGIC International and will relaunch Oligo Tissew at the Feb. 27–March 1 run of Fashion Coterie in New York.

Koos also holds the license for Big Star USA. Wholesale price points are $37 to $48 for Big Star, $58 for Sam and Billy, $59 to $82 for AG, and $80 to $150 for Oligo Tissew.

Beginnings in knits

Enuke started out designing his Oliver Twist collection, an avant-garde couture knitwear line sold at high-end boutiques such as Maxfield in Los Angeles.

To supplement his income, Enuke joined BCBG Max Azria in 2000 as the women’s denim and casualwear designer.

He stayed for two years and then left to launch the Oligo Tissew by Oliver Twist denim line in 2002 with the help of his wife, Amy. The collection started as designer jeans and eventually expanded to include basic tees, denim jackets and knitwear. Enuke showed the line on the runway during the past two seasons of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, Calif. “Things were moving along nicely, but, of course, there was always a cash-flow problem,” Enuke said.

By chance, Enuke met Yul Ku, president of Koos Manufacturing, while on a flight back from Japan four years ago. After Adriano Goldschmied left the company last fall, Ku approached Enuke at the Designers & Agents show in New York and asked him to join his company, which Enuke did in early November.

“It’s a very good marriage,” Enuke said. “This man comes with the highest integrity. So, for me, it cannot get better than that. I feel very fortunate to have been asked by him.”

The designer currently heads up the AG line and continues to maintain controlling interest in Oligo Tissew. Enuke’s wife has also joined the team as a graphic designer. No longer challenged by lack of money or production, Enuke can now focus on his true love: designing.

“All I can say is that Oligo Tissew is in the best hands, and the product is going to get so fantastic, and the delivery is going to be amazing, and with our fit—it just comes down to making the customers happy,” Enuke said. “So I’m happy. I’m in a good place.”

Growth plans

Joining forces with Koos ups the ante for Enuke, allowing him to continue with Oligo Tissew and fully develop his couture knitwear line.

The designer anticipates sales of Oligo Tissew will grow from the $2 million earned last year to up to $20 million in the next 3 to 5 years.

“We’re not in a hurry,” he said. “We want to build it correctly, build a following, be able to do a very strong replenishment business and make sure the quality is where we want it on a regular basis, and get a good, strong customer base. Because of our strong design background, we are able to continuously evolve the product.

“Oligo Tissew is going to keep the fit it’s known for, plus keep the fashion going strong,” he added.

For the AG line, Enuke plans to evolve the style, making it more forward, more detailed and a little sexier—without compromising the fit.

Growth plans for AG, currently a denim and T-shirt line, are in the works. Enuke and Ku intend to expand the customer base and develop the brand into a complete lifestyle sports wear line offering a full range of clothing, bags and accessories. Last year’s sales of more than $40 million are expected to rise to $80 million this year.

Enuke and Ku also expect sales for the Big Star line to reach $40 million in the next three years.

Koos already opened an AG Adriano Goldschmied store in Los Angeles in October and an outlet at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets near Palm Springs, Calif., in December. The company will also launch a store in New York in April. Over time, Enuke and Ku intend to open more than 100 stores in the United States, plus stores in Europe. Enuke also plans to take AG to the runway at Mercedes- Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios.

Enuke had only three months to develop the Fall lines before previewing them at MAGIC. At the show, Enuke said he showed core essentials for Oligo Tissew. The fashion collection, he noted, will be unveiled at Coterie.

“At Coterie you have a bigger slice of the cake in terms of the people that come to see you,” Enuke said. “We’re also very particular about who we sell to. We’re not looking to mass produce Oliver Twist. The price point is still an exclusive price point. The most important thing is that we have the exposure that we need for building the product, the label, further.”

Solid foundation

Koos is prepared for the expansion. The company has been in business for 28 years and has more than 800 employees. As a vertical business, it has the capacity to manufacture anything, Enuke explained. “We wash here, dye, cut, sew, finish and replenish,” he said.

Koos also can turn around reorders in 72 hours for core basic styles, according to Ku. The new Sam and Billy line, designed by Ku’s son, Sam, will ship within 24 hours.

“We want to work together with buyers and retailers to build a company like no one else has done before. That’s just one element of how we’ve succeeded so far,” said Ku’s assistant, Janet Kim. “At these price points, that’s unheard of in the industry.”

Though Koos provides a quick turnaround on orders, quality is the most important consideration. When it arrives, fabric is sorted by color and quality and goes through tests for shrinkage and other aspects. After the fabric is cut, washed and sanded, it is then taken home and washed and worn 20 times to test for quality. “It must be tested 20 times before we can say, ’Okay, fine, this belongs in the line.’ That’s how every product is done. Nobody else does this,” Enuke said.

Ku’s motto of “best jean, best company” has served him well. AG has won several industry awards, including the “Best Women’s Jean” distinction from Sportswear International and the Dallas Fashion Award for denim, which he landed in 2003 and 2004.

“We want to put ourselves in a place where we are about design, quality, best product and customer satisfaction,” Enuke said. “[Ku’s] philosophy is that if the customer is happy, the customer will come back.”

Fortunately for Enuke, AG already had a solid reputation and an experienced production team in place.

“I have a beautiful team of people here,” Enuke said. “Adriano started a good thing. And he left it, and it’s a legacy that we’ve inherited, and now we have to build on it. It’s pretty much core business. So, what we now need to do is take that core business and develop it into something that’s a little more exciting.”

—N. Jayne Seward