kimair
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from today's wwd...does everyone have to do denim??
Since starting his company in 2001, Zac Posen has experimented with denim fabrics, but the dream of having a jeans collection always eluded him.
Enter Neiman Marcus, which was looking to add a new dimension to its booming premium denim business by bringing a young designer into the field. Neiman's selected Posen and introduced him to Seven for All Mankind creative director Tim Kaeding, suggesting a creative collaboration between the two.
"Our denim business has been so explosive in the contemporary area and we are constantly challenging ourselves on how we can continue to keep the category growing, both in sales and in terms of the uniqueness of the product we can offer," said Ann Stordahl, executive vice president and general merchandise manager at Neiman Marcus. "So we came up with the idea of going to Zac Posen, for whom we have so much respect and who is always such a willing partner, and marrying his talent to Seven for All Mankind, which has such great fit and quality. We felt they could execute the vision."
Posen and Kaeding collaborated on the design of three limited-edition jeans that will be co-branded "Zac Posen for Seven for All Mankind" and sold exclusively at Neiman's this fall. Seven for All Mankind manufactured the jeans, taking care of the fits and washes, while Posen designed topical details such as special logo rivets and floral embroidery.
"I wasn't interested in challenging the idea of jeans," Posen said. "I was interested in creating a jean that had incredible texture."
An example is a five-pocket jean with the outer seams on the leg embellished with rows of Seven for All Mankind and Zac Posen "Z" rivets, in aged brass, antique pewter and gunmetal sheen finishes. The pair, which retails for $995, also has a riveted waistband.
Another design, a distressed-wash, slim-cut style with a slightly flared hem, features floral embroidery on one leg culled from one of Posen's fall jackets. The pair, priced at $700, comes with a special tassel made of semiprecious beads and stones dangling from a belt loop. The third pair, for $450, is a stretch boot-cut in a dark wash featuring Posen's Z rivets and Seven for All Mankind's rivets on the waistband. A riveted letter Z serves as back-pocket detail.
The jeans will be launched exclusively at Neiman's 36 stores during The HIP Event, Oct. 7-8, a biannual initiative that the upscale retailer uses to spotlight contemporary collections through special activities.
Neiman's is restricting the purchase of the jeans to one style per customer.
"Great fashion comes out of rarity," Posen said. "These jeans are limited in edition, but down the road, it will definitely be something to expand on."
