Comeback Kids

Saddlelites’ founders return with new line and denim relaunch.

Once the celebrated new faces of the premium-denim scene, Saddlelites Jeans hopes to turn into the comeback kids.

Debuted in 2003 by two 19-year-old novices, Lukus Eichmann and Daniel Green, Saddlelites enjoyed great success seemingly from the moment the unorthodox, stylish jeans were introduced.

For its first season, the label sold in top stores such as Barneys New York, and it enjoyed accolades in articles published in The New York Times and Vogue. Eichmann, the line’s executive director, hoped his label would be known for taking risks. “It was more of an esoteric, experimental jean company,” Eichmann said. “It was going to push the boundaries of what denim is and what it is not.”

By 2007, the label had lost momentum after a dispute with IPGI Inc., its financial and manufacturing partner. Japan-based IPGI withheld crucial funds during a dispute over the label’s creative direction and different interpretations over the financial terms of the partnership, according to Eichmann. Saddlelites did not ship product for Spring or Fall 2007.

Saddlelites and the Japanese company resolved their dispute by dissolving their partnership. In a settlement, the founders retained worldwide distribution rights over the Saddlelites name and IPGI kept trademarks in Japan.

Eichmann and Green, now 24 and 25, respectively, said they hope Fall 2008 will be a season of second chances. They will reintroduce Saddlelites and debut a new line, Rhythm Dynasty, at trade show ENK Vegas Aug. 26–28 in Las Vegas. It is scheduled for the same time as the Project Global Trade Show and the other Las Vegas shows. The reintroduction of a brand is a tougher feat to pull off than a debut of a fashion label, said Jeff Shafer, designer and owner of Agave, a premium-denim brand based in Vancouver, Wash. A fashion designer not only must assure retailers that the label’s style is still fresh, the designer also must prove to the buyers that there will be no problems with deliveries.

“Buyers will be afraid to commit dollars and not get goods,” Shafer said.

Eichmann said his label has moved past distribution snafus since regrouping in late 2007. Saddelites has been working with new manufacturers.

The Saddlelites founders will also find themselves relaunching in a slower denim market. Unit sales for jeans declined 4.3 percent between May 2007 and May 2008, according to the NPD Group, a Port Washington, N.Y.–based market-research company.

However, the current denim market favors luxury. Premium denim—those priced at $150 or more—experienced a boost in business in the past year. The category experienced a sales increase of 36 percent between May 2007 and May 2008, according to NPD.

Saddlelites could be well positioned in the current denim market. The retail price points for the new collection will range from $220 to $300. It also might make new sales from old customers, said Los Angeles boutique owner Melissa Ritchie. She said the original Saddlelites jeans earned repeat customers because of the different look. “It was more dressy than other jeans,” said Ritchie, the owner of Los Angeles boutique Atmosphere. “It was an alternative.”

For its Fall 2008 comeback, Eichmann and Green re-evaluated what they could do to regroup and what made their line special in the first place. For their first splash, the label attracted fashion buyers with uncommon jeans styling such as curved seams and Japanese denim fabric.

For the new look, Green, the label’s creative director, also experimented with dropping more-mainstream details such as rivets. Fall 2008 basically combines classic styles with a few new ideas. The hope is that the look strikes a higher profile for the company.

The new strategy not only includes selling the collections to better department stores and specialty stores, but the plan also includes offering more fashion categories such as a contemporary line Eichmann and Green hope to debut by spring 2009. They are also considering opening a retail division sometime in 2009. The unnamed retail division would sell Saddlelites, Rhythm Dynasty and the upcoming contemporary line.

A key part of regrouping for Saddlelites was to develop a relationship with a tops manufacturer called My Dyer. This company has a plant and warehouse space in Paramount, Calif., a city 16 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Saddlelites is currently headquartered in space owned by My Dyer. Saddlelites will work with My Dyer to create a tops collection for Rhythm Dynasty.

The relationship will help start the label’s first tops program. The T-shirts and Henleys will use a distinctive jersey material in different colors such as mint, Green said. Rhythm Dynasty graphics are inspired by musical notes and images from the American jazz and blues music scene of more than 50 years ago.

Rhythm Dynasty also will offer a bottoms program that includes denim and non-denim materials. Retail price points for bottoms will range from $150 to $200.

Green said he believes the company’s ambitious design and business agenda will find a place. “We have our ideas on where things should go,” he said. “It might not catch on immediately. Eventually, people will embrace them.”