• by Thom Forbes  @tforbes, July 6, 2017

True Religion jeans filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in Delaware yesterday in an effort to forestall its transition to the afterlife.

The “once-trendy” upscale jean maker and retailer has been hit not only by the growth of online shopping but also “by design missteps and boring store displays as fickle shoppers sought out the next new thing,” observes James F. Peltz for the Los Angeles Times.

“In court papers, a True Religion executive pinned the company's financial difficulties on the growth of ‘athleisure,’ a move away from denim to casual sports clothing outside of the gym. True Religion became a part of popular culture a decade ago as celebrities donned the denim and hip-hop artists cited the brand in songs,” write Reuters’ Subrat Patnaik and Jessica DiNapoli.

“In addition, premium denim sellers such as True Religion have been losing ground to fast-fashion and low-price apparel retailers as the company’s new product designs failed to resonate with consumers,” writes Patrick Fitzgerald for the Wall Street Journal.

“Similar trends [have] ensnared teen retailers American Apparel, Aeropostale and Pacific Sunwear,” Nathan Bomey points out for USA Today.

Founded in 2002 by Jeff Lubell with a “five-needle thread at two-stitch-per-inch process,” as it website relates, “the company took steps to stanch the red ink, closing 30 stores and cutting its workforce in recent years while redirecting resources to its online channel. But it hasn’t been enough, as the business posted a $78.5 million loss last year,” the WSJ’s Fitzgerald reports. 

The jeans were a “status symbol among celebrities such as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton in the early 2000s,” according to Anna Nicolaou and Adam Samson in Financial Times. True Religion “made its name selling high-end jeans for prices starting at $300, often with a bleached or distressed look. However, the company’s colorfully stitched garments have lost relevance over the past decade…’”

Lubell, a Brooklyn-born, “self-described hippie,” stepped down from his role as the company’s CEO, chairman and creative director in 2013, as Tiffany Hsu reported for the Los Angeles Times.

Based in Manhattan Beach, Calif., True Religion said that “in tandem with filing under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy laws, its owner, TowerBrook Capital Partners, a private equity firm, reached a proposed deal with lenders to slash True Religion’s debt by about three-quarters as it continues operating,” the LAT’s Peltz reports.

Laura Berman’s piece for The Street leaves little room for revival, however, under a headline that proclaims: “Expensive Jeans for 45-Year-Old Men Has Died.” And her lede is straight out of the coroner’s stylebook: “Premium denim is officially dead.” 

Berman’s story does, however, quote from the statement made by CEO John Ermatinger: “After a careful review, we are taking an important step to reduce our debt, reinvigorate True Religion's iconic brand and position the company for future growth and success.”

The restructuring, which cuts debts by $350 billion, will allow the company to “continue business operations as usual and provide our employees and business partners the long-term stability they need,” he says. 

In other fashion news this week, fired British Vogue fashion director Lucinda Chambers said that she had not read the magazine herself in years and that the styles it features are “just irrelevant for most people — so ridiculously expensive,” as Elizabeth Paton reports for the New York Times. 

“What magazines want today is the latest, the exclusive,” Chambers continued. “It’s a shame that magazines have lost the authority they once had. They’ve stopped being useful. In fashion, we are always trying to make people buy something they don’t need. We don’t need any more bags, shirts or shoes. So we cajole, bully or encourage people.” 

Chambers, who was summarily dismissed by new editor Edward Enninful after 25 years in her position and 36 years at the magazine, talked to Anja Aronowsky Cronberg for Vestoj, an academic journal about fashion.

“Entitled, ‘Will I Get a Ticket?’, Chambers went on to slam some of the magazine's decisions — particularly when it came to advertising,” Sarah Young reports for The Independent.

 “‘The June cover with Alexa Chung in a stupid Michael Kors T-shirt is crap,’ she admits. ‘He’s a big advertiser so I knew why I had to do it. I knew it was cheesy when I was doing it, and I did it anyway.’”

The “editorial we” at other arbiters of fashion must be shocked by the revelations.