California Apparel News

For influential fashion buyer Randy Brewer, eco-friendly styles are the new premium denim.

As a buyer for high-profile San Francisco boutique chain Villains, Brewer helped spread the popularity of premium fashions when he managed the chain from 1997 until September 2009, at which point, he said, he resigned amicably from the store. In late February, Brewer will debut eco-boutique Convert in Berkeley, Calif. He believes this retail project will get consumers and clothing manufacturers to support the cause of eco-fashion.

The 1,800-square-foot store will open at 1809 B. Fourth St. in the stylish neighborhood of North Berkeley, which is located more than one mile away from the University of California, Berkeley. It will offer stylish and contemporary looks from eco-fashion labels Nau and Stewart & Brown as well as environmentally friendly items from clothing labels Obey and Hurley. Denim pants will retail for $200. Shirts will retail under $150.

Along with making more stylish eco-fashions available to consumers, Brewer said he is using the store to convince more labels to make eco-fashions. He said he has approached the former labels he worked with at Villains and gave them this pitch: “I know you aren’t eco, but I want to carry your line. What can you do to help me?” he said. Convert also will carry lines that are manufactured in America and constructed in factories where workers are well-compensated and labor under good conditions.

He reported receiving many positive responses to the brash proposition. He plans to build a chain of Convert boutiques, which would give him more clout with manufacturers. Currently he is the founder and sole employee of the company. He intends to partner with investors if and when he opens more stores.

Brewer’s mission might give eco-fashion a great boost, according to Isaac Nichelson, the founder and chief executive of eco-fashion brand Livity. “He has been an influential retailer on the West Coast. If he can bring that same eye to the product mix in the eco-world and make a presentation for the kids looking for a contemporary, street fashion, it would be great for everyone,” said Nichelson, who will be debuting a Livity store in Santa Monica, Calif., in early March.

Eco-fashion stores were among the hardest hit during the Great Recession and many went out of business, Nichelson said.

However, businesses serving an environmentally friendly lifestyle have dramatically increased, according to Greenopia, a Santa Barbara, Calif.–based publishing company that compiles a list of green businesses—from restaurants and boutiques to burial services. In 2006, there were 800 green businesses in Los Angeles County. In 2009, that number grew to 2,000 businesses.

Brewer said eco-fashion will follow the same growth trajectory as the market for organic foods, which has steadily grown in the past decade. He tested the store concept with a Convert pop-up store in Berkeley, which he ran from Nov. 31 to Jan. 1. When the store debuts, it will offer a minimal store design, featuring a counter made out of laborers’ work benches.—Andrew Asch