True Religion's Lubell Up for Entrepreneur Award
Jeffery Lubell, founder of Vernon, Calif.–based denim label True Religion Apparel Inc., has been named a finalist for Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” awards, which will be presented at a November banquet in Palm Springs, Calif., and hosted by Jay Leno.
Lubell is the first apparel-industry finalist since American Apparel and Forever 21 won awards in 2004. Nominees must have been in business for at least two years and be responsible for their company’s recent performance.
Lubell launched True Religion in 2002 with no investors and an initial run of 10,000 pairs of jeans. The jeans featured intricate embroidery and hand-sanded finishes and were priced well above the norm for denim. Lubell initially placed the jeans in Fred Segal on Melrose Avenue, but initial sales were slow. After giving a few pairs to the store’s sales associates, who would show customers how well the jeans fit, sales climbed dramatically and eventually snowballed.
True Religion has since expanded into other apparel categories and grown its company-owned retail store portfolio to 24 units.
Award recipients will be chosen by an independent panel of judges representing a variety of industries. Previous winners include Michael Dell of Dell Inc., H. Wayne Huizenga of Huizenga Holdings and Arthur M. Blank of The Home Depot Inc. —Robert McAllister
