Bella Dahl Introduces New Tencera Fabric
Los Angeles–based contemporary line Bella Dahl launched last year with a collection of jeans, tops and dresses in “super-soft” fabrications and wash treatments.
“Nothing in the Bella Dahl line can be in the line unless it’s super-soft,” said Kerry Jolna, president of EMJ Apparel Group, owner of the Bella Dahl brand.
Recently, the company took the super-soft concept further with the launch of Tencera, a proprietary fabric and wash treatment made from Tencel.
Created after a year of development, Tencera’s fibers go through several “breakdown” processes at the mill followed by a special wash that gives Tencera its ultra-soft, “very slick” hand and drape.
“It’s a special Tencel that we’re using. It has a construction and property that’s a little bit different from most Tencel products out there,” Jolna said. “It has a very soft, very slick hand” and “much more drape.” “Working with the mill, we were able to go through a series of breakdown processes that brings [the fabric] to the color we want, brings it to the soft hand that we want, softer than Tencel normally is. It softens up the product that much more and gives it drape and gives us the color and hand and pile that we want on the fabric.”
Tencera is used for Bella Dahl tops, dresses, rompers and bottoms. The company recently introduced the same construction of Tencera in PFD colors, as well.
“When the customer touches the product, they go crazy for it,” Jolna said.
Among the retailers already carrying Bella Dahl’s Tencera pieces are Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Anthropologie and Kitson, as well as 600 specialty stores.
“Tencera has sold like crazy at retail,” Jolna said. “We can’t keep the product on the shelf. Some stores are going on automatic replenishment. We’re ramping up our production to keep up.”
The retail and customer response has been a welcome surprise, Jolna said. “We didn’t expect this to hit this hard, this fast,” he said. “This is like rolling back to the ’80s, when the ’80s were wild and crazy.”
For more information about Bella Dahl’s Tencera pieces, visit www.belladahl.com.—Alison A. Nieder
