Tulle: New Direction, New Look
For Los Angeles–based fashion line Tulle, changing direction means growing up.
It started business in 1999 as a clothing line devoted to juniors. By 2005, the company’s Chief Executive Eric Chung was ready to drop the ball on fashions for the fickle juniors market.
The juniors market demanded a myriad of new looks every month, he explained, and that pace was too harsh when importing product from company factories in China. “The contemporary market is more steady,” he said.
Chung and co–Chief Executive Chris Lee didn’t do market research on whether the contemporary market is an easier ride. Rather they made a gut decision. In 2006, they hired Jennifer Smith, a recent graduate from the Savannah College of Design in Savannah, Ga., to give the company’s products a look that would be embraced by women in their 20s and 30s.
The result is Tulle’s ambitious Fall 2007 line. The 120 pieces range from trench coats to pleated pencil skirts and georgette tops. The inspiration for the collection is vintage clothes, especially those with a 1960s and 1970s pedigree.
Smith finds fashion inspiration in Los Angeles’ vintage fashion shops and takes biannual trips to visit the vintage boutiques of London.
However, she stressed that the look of Tulle is American. “If you think British, you think more quirky. We have a quirky vibe, but it’s toned-down. It’s adventurous, but it’s still wearable,” she said. Retail price points range from $40 for a T-shirt to $100 for a long wool coat.
Contemporary fashions must be a good fit for Chung. By the end of the year, he plans to hire two more designers for Tulle. For more information about Tulle, call (212) 764-0200. —Andrew Asch
