Alice + Olivia Launches New Denim Brand - WWD

A+O LAUNCHES DENIM BRAND: On Thursday, Alice + Olivia by Stacey Bendet will roll out a new denim brand called AO.LA.

AO.LA is a casual-focused sister brand that features a variety of denim styles, silk jacquard kimonos, knit tees, vintage style rocker tees and cropped jackets. The look is reminiscent of the Seventies, but punctuated by modern, edgy details. The collection, which launches with a resort line, will be sold at the 21 Alice + Olivia stores nationwide and its web site and 20 doors of Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. The brand will have a separate section that launches Thursday on the Alice + Olivia web site.

AO.LA will be designed in New York and produced in Los Angeles. Retail prices are between $198 and $295 for denim, $135 and $150 for tees, and $330 and $495 for kimonos. The leather jacket retails for $1,095.

Among the denim styles are high-rise bell jeans; high-rise exposed button jeans; ankle skinny jeans;  low-rise skinny jeans with studs, and embroidered boyfriend distressed jeans. T-shirts include those with pop iconography, such as Mickey Mouse, The Beatles and David Bowie, and jackets include a combination sweatshirt leather jacket.

The denim styles are named Good, Great, Beautiful, Perfect, Amazing and Fabulous. The waistbands carry the statements, “You look good today,” “You look great today,” “You look beautiful today” and “You look gorgeous today.”

Stacey Bendet, chief executive officer and creative director of Alice + Olivia, said she wants her customers to not only feel good about themselves, but also do good. To that end, 10 percent of net proceeds from the Good jeans will benefit Good + Foundation.

Asked what inspired her to launch a denim collection, Bendet said, “I’ve always designed with the goal of dressing a woman for all aspects of her life. AO.LA began as a concept, my sort of West Coast alter ego, the casual weekend cool, the dressed up jean. The inspiration image for the collection was a picture of my mom in her wedding gown with a pair of big bell bottom jeans underneath. It resonated with me.

“Jeans are so much a part of a woman’s life, her memories, her life stories..and that’s what I set out to do with AO.LA., create jeans that make a woman feel empowered and good, jeans that tell a story,” she added.

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