A look at the new Denim Studio at Selfridges
Selfridges Big on California Blue Jeans
Even though California is the home of premium blue jeans, the British seem to be taking a big fancy to the trend.
Selfridges, which bills itself as the world's best department store, opened one enormous Denim Studio recently that covers 26,000 square feet. Inside this gargantuan space, which is the size of two Olympic-size swimming pools, are 11,000 pairs of blue jeans, from the high end to the low end.
My colleague Alison Nieder visited the denim department recently when she was in London and wrote about iit in a blog.
Some brands stocked there are from California. Think J Brand, Hudson Jeans, and Levi's. You can find a pair of blue jeans for as little as $17 or spend as much as $17,200.
Apparently, denim sales at the venerable department store on Oxford Street are up 50 percent over the past four years. That is what prompted the store two years ago to expand its denim department fivefold at a cost of $9.4 million.
Now if the British could convince the European Union to drop its exorbitant 38 percent duty on women's blue jeans enacted on May 1, everyone would be a little happier on both sides of the pond.
