Lucky Brand Jeans
Encyclopedia
Denim
Denim is a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This produces the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the reverse of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. Denim has been in American usage since the late 18th century...
company founded in Vernon, California
Vernon, California
Vernon is a city five miles south of downtown Los Angeles, California. The population was 112 at the 2010 United States Census, the smallest of any incorporated city in the state....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1990 by Gene Montesano and Barry Perlman. Lucky Brand is a subsidiary of the Liz Claiborne
Liz Claiborne
Anne Elisabeth Jane "Liz" Claiborne was a Belgian-born American fashion designer and entrepreneur. Claiborne is best known for founding Liz Claiborne Inc. which in 1986 became the first company founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500...
fashion company. Lucky also produces sportswear, outerwear, T-shirts and active wear. Lucky Brand products are available through the 150 company-owned stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and three company-owned stores in Europe. The denim products can also be bought in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
as well as in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
(in David Jones department stores). In the U.S. Lucky is also sold at major department store chains including Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's is an American department store owned by Macy's, Inc. .Bloomingdale's started in 1861 when brothers Joseph and Lyman G. Bloomingdale started selling hoop-skirts in their Ladies Notions' Shop on Manhattan's Lower East Side...
, Macy’s, Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor, colloquially known as L&T, or LT, based in New York City, is the oldest upscale, specialty-retail department store chain in the United States. Concentrated in the eastern U.S., the retailer operated independently for nearly a century prior to joining American Dry Goods...
, Nordstrom
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. is an upscale department store chain in the United States, founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings...
, Belk
Belk
Belk is a department store chain founded in 1888 in Monroe, North Carolina, today part of the Charlotte metropolitan area. After the founding of the first Belk store, the company grew in size and influence throughout the South via the chain in the USA, with its stores primarily located in the...
and Dillard’s, as well as in smaller specialty chains like Buckle.
Liz Claiborne Inc. acquired Lucky Brand Jeans in May 1999. In 2005, the company expanded its line to include clothing for infants through age 10. In 2006, the company opened Lucky Brand Jeans Kid stores, which exclusively sell their children's clothing.
History
In the 1970s, 21-year-old Gene Montesano and 17-year-old Barry Perlman opened a Florida jeans shop called Four Way Street. "During the evenings, we'd head out to the local Laundromat with our pockets full of coins and some bleach. A few hours later, we had a stack of great washed jeans -- one of a kind and 100% authentic!” This is where the foundation that would become Lucky Brand Jeans was started.In 1978, Gene moved to enter into the Los Angeles fashion industry. With partner Michael Caruso he started Bongo and ran the brand for 15 years. After leaving Bongo, Gene teamed up with his old business partner Barry Perlman in 1990 to launch Lucky Brand.
Gene & Barry created a brand that is known for the attention to detail put into each pair of jeans. This along with the stitching of "Lucky You" on the fly, accomplishes the goal that Gene & Barry set out to do; to create a product of good quality & good humor.
Lucky Foundation
The Lucky Brand Foundation was launched in 1996, which was established with a goal to help children first. Since the launch the foundation has raised over $8 million through fund raising events. Such events have featured rock performers such as Jackson Browne, Joe Cocker, B.B. King, and Bonnie Raitt. Another way the Foundation has been consistently successful at accomplishing their set goal is through the annual Black Tie & Blue Jeans Gala, which has a record of raising approximately $6 million for numerous children's charities including: Smile Train, Camp Sundown, Island Dolphin Care, Shane's Inspiration and The Bridge School. With the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love and the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's album, Lucky Foundation was able to raise more than $700,000.Product
All of the products sold by Lucky as well as their stores' decoration reflects a bohemian style. Denim is the major selling point of the company, making up about 60% of business. All Lucky Brand Jeans have two four-leaf clovers, and the phrase "LUCKY ME!" and "LUCKY YOU!" stitched onto the inside and outside of the fly shield respectively. This has become a trademark of their denim line. Their denim line is made up of a wide variety of fits and a wide variety of washing.Lucky products are manufactured in the USA (before 2010), Indonesia, China, Peru, Chile, Vietnam, Mexico and Sri Lanka. All USA-manufactured Lucky jeans are made in Vernon, near downtown Los Angeles. In addition, the jeans manufactured in the United States are all hand-made, and all the detailing is done by hand, except for the actual washing process.