True Religion, the designer denim brand that had its heyday 20 years ago, and has bounced back on from its second bankruptcy, is continuing its turnaround strategy with the launch today of a plus-size collection for women.
CEO Michael Buckley, who took the reins of the brand in fall of 2019, has made increasing True Religion’s women’s business a top priority. The plus-size collection, which initially will be sold online before being rolled out in stores, is part of that effort.
The plus-size styles are being offered for sale beginning today on the company’s website. The company expects to gradually introduce the collection in its stores, and at its wholesale partners.
As part of his turnaround plan, Buckley, who was True Religion’s president from 2006 to 2010, has repositioned the brand, once known for its jeans costing $300 and up, as a more affordable option. He also has leaned into what he describes as the new True Religion demographic, a much broader range of ages and incomes and backgrounds than the luxury customer the brand previously was chasing.
During the brand’s prime, the women’s business accounted for more than 60% of sales, but it had fallen to below 40% by the time Buckley returned to True Religion.
The company, Buckley said, had lost its earlier attentiveness to female customers.
“At the beginning of the brand, there were two separate design teams for men’s and women’s. A couple years, later, after the company got taken private, they kind of blended everything together,” he said in an interview to announce today’s launch. “It wasn’t a dedicated focus, which to me was a major miss.”
A year ago, Buckley hired Tina Blake as Senior Vice President, Women’s Design and Brand Image, to reinvigorate the women’s business. Blake, who is overseeing the plus-size launch, said True Religion’s female customers have actively been asking for larger size offerings.
Adding plus-size for women, “is something that has been a little bit of a passion project of mine since I arrived here,” Blake said. “It’s inclusive.”
When Blake attended the opening of True Religion’s newest store, at Cumberland Mall in Atlanta, in September, customers there were eager to hear when plus-size options would be available, she said.
The launch includes approximately 80 to 100 styles, across denim and sportswear, Blake said. Denim plus-sizes will go from 24 to up to size 42 and tops will go up to 3x.
“As we continue to test and make sure this is going off without a hitch we’re going to continue to add to the styles and continue to expand the size range,” Blake said.
True Religion started in 2002 in Los Angeles, and went public a year later through a reverse merger. It made Fortune’s list of fastest growing companies in 2009 and 2010, and was taken private in 2013.
It filed for bankruptcy for the first time in 2017, after the luxury denim trend hit a slump, and again in early 2020, after pandemic shutdowns left it without enough cash to continue on the recovery path but in place after the first bankruptcy.
The company did approximately $260 million in sales last year, and expects 10% growth this year, Buckley said. It plans to reach close to $500 million in revenue by 2027.
True Religion exited its second bankruptcy in October, 2020. The company now “is a very, very healthy business,” Buckley said. “We’re as profitable as we were back in 2007, 2008 when we were a publicly-traced company.”
It has 48 stores, and is sold in 4,000 wholesale doors in North American, including at Macy’s, Dillard’s and Urban Outfitter stores. It also is expanding internationally, with retail partners preparing to open stores in 26 markets in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
While the original True Religion was going after the Saks
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The starting prices are lower and True Religion offers discounts to drive sales.
“This consumer wants a deal.” Buckley said. “They’re not paying full price. Even if they love the brand, they want it at 30 off, 50% off. We know how to sell to them. We know how to source the product more efficiently than we did years ago. We changed the supply chain completely in the last four years since I came back, and we give the customer what they want at the price they want,” he said.
While True Religion clothing is less expensive than it used to be, it still is a premium brand compared to Guess
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The plus-size launch is part of Buckley’s long-term goal of returning women’s to more 60% or more of the business.
“When I look at the Lucky’s and the Diesel’s and the Guesses – other jean-related sportswear brands – they’re all 60% women’s. It’s just the nature of the marketplace. Of the $250 billion of apparel and accessories, 60% of the business is women’s,” he said.
“We want to grow both businesses, men’s and women’s, but the women’s is clearly a much bigger opportunity,” he said.
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