Agave's Denim Decade
A look from Agave's Fall line.
If asked to name some local apparel companies, you might rattle off familiar names like Nike or Columbia. But somehow, as Agave Denim celebrates its 10th year in business this month, the fashionable line sold across the country has quietly slipped under the radar for many. True, the company has morphed significantly from its starting days down in Los Angeles where husband and wife owners Jeff and Lauren Shafer began by creating denim basics for the fellas. Six years ago they decided they wanted to raise their children in the Pacific Northwest lifestyle and moved to the ‘burbs of Portland where they got to work on expanding. Now their built-from-scratch warehouse and design studio (manufacturing is still done in L.A.) hosts 30,000 pieces of inventory at any given time to service their 500+ stores across North America and Great Britain as well as the online purchases made from their web site.
What sits in those boxes now is different from what you would have found at the beginning of the decade. A couple years ago Jeff, who designs the menswear while Lauren tackles the women, made a conscious effort to stray from just doing the traditional modern basics for a mature customer and go after the young and cool. It was a good decision. In the last year alone Agave has impressed editors from Vogue, Glamor and GQ (as well as hip customers) with its new branding as a “West Coast luxury lifestyle brand.”The expansion of the women’s wear line was so successful in one season they were able to jump from a single Neiman Marcus placing orders to eight.
Agave's Timbers shoot.
Agave plans to celebrate their impressive decade in denim with a party at Mario’s for Fashion’s Night Out. Not only will you be able to see a preview of the Agave Fall collection (plus a DJ, food, drinks and fun), you’ll also get a chance to see one or more of the Timbers in person as they're scheduled to make an appearance. Regardless of the hook of sexy soccer men, take the time that night (or right now) to get familiar with Agave and their impressive product. In our city that loves keeping it local, wouldn’t you like to be able to sport jeans that were dreamed up 15 minutes away from Pioneer Square?
