| The Summer of ‘575
Recently we had the pleasure of catching up with our old friend
Christian Audigier, who evolved from being lead designer of Von
Dutch into his own man as the creator the Don Ed Hardy clothing
revolution. It now appears as if one of our other alumni, Frank
Mechaly (we introduced you to him nearly two years ago via
his solid work on Sacred Blue jeans),
has graduated to a new level of success in the denim world.
Currently 575 Denim is blowing off the
shelves of destination boutiques locally and nationally that synonymous
with cutting edge fashion (Barney’s
New York, Kitson,
M Fredric, Ron Herman and
Fred Segal). With this new brand, launched this past January
with former Sacred Blue sales team executive Shaun
Hurley, the focus continues to be on the subtle details that
make a pair of jeans special in the finishing process. Wear and
tear is painstakingly accomplished with sanding, grinding, open-ended
seams, and simple-but-solid vintage hardware that holds the whole
thing together. Models like “The
Painter” and “The Farmer”
have all the right kinds of distressing, but its never overdone
or obvious.
575, with collections for both men and
women, has already attracted a following with such denim
aficionados as Hilary Duff, Haylie Duff,
Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz,
Rachel Bilson, Felicity Huffman,
Lenny Kravitz, William H Macy,
David Duchovny, Wilmer Valderrama
and Constantine Maroulis.
Then again, it should come as no surprise that Mechaly seamlessly
(pun intended) moved from one major boutique denim label to the
creation of a new one. His dad is none other than David
Mechaly who created the hugely successful Blue Cult jeans.
However, Frank makes it clear personally and professionally, he
is very much his own man.
“I spent more than a year working on Sacred Blue before launching
575 Denim,” affirms Mechaly. “In that time, I realized
it is better to learn on your own, than to work with family. In
the last six months, I have taken 575 from a 2,000 square foot office,
to a 40,000 square foot, full production facility.”
This week, 2 lucky winners will find
out for themselves why Frank Mechaly is such a success in the denim
world on his own terms.
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