Topsy Turvy Goes Right Side Up
Two native Frenchmen and longtime California residents have taken a small accessories line and invigorated it with typical Gallic panache.
Topsy Turvy was founded in 1998 as a belts and handbags line. Marco De Longebille and Mark Benabou purchased the company in 2001 and reinvented it as a young contemporary apparel line. They also added “USA” to the company’s name.
Topsy Turvy’s designs are an eclectic mixture of girly, funky and preppy, De Longebille said. Wholesale prices range from the mid $20s to the mid $40s.
Repped by Mike & Millie Sales in the California Market Center in Los Angeles, the line was picked up by Nordstrom during June market. The department store retailer placed the line in select West Coast stores, “did well with it, and [is] very happy,” according to De Longebille. For Fall, Nordstrom will roll out the line nationwide. Topsy Turvy is also sold at Dillard’s and select specialty stores.
The brand was originally marketed in Europe, where it has a strong following, De Longebille said. Declining to elaborate, he added, “We’re very happy businessmen in Europe with good partnerships in most European countries.”
He credits the brand’s growth to designer Elaine Kim, who spearheaded the brands Trois Mailles and Cotton, which she said are “very sexy and European, with art nouveau– inspired prints, sheer fabrics and ’60s stripes and polka dots like you’d see on the Mediterranean.”
Topsy Turvy will show Aug. 30– Sept. 2 in the young contemporary section of MAGIC International.
For more information, visit www.topsyturvyusa.com, or call Mike & Millie at (213) 228-1941. —C.M.C.
