Denim is back for lifestyle brand Sanctuary Clothing. Known for its laidback aesthetic and versatile separates that can be dressed up and down, the Los Angeles-based label reintroduced women’s denim for Spring 2022.
The category offering was put on pause for one season during the Covid-19 pandemic, following the end of its year-long licensing agreement with One Jeanswear Group, which produces denim for Gloria Vanderbilt, Jessica Simpson, Nine West and more.
Sanctuary Clothing creative director Debra Polanco said the team ultimately decided it was best to keep women’s denim in-house and let its own design team manage the process. Men’s denim, on the other hand, is still being outsourced.
The brand’s timing for its second denim debut is strategic, as the denim market is currently experiencing remarkable growth. Retail intelligence platform Edited reported that denim sell outs were up 10 percent in 2021 compared to the previous year—and it’s only the beginning. In the first week of 2022, denim sellouts were up 27 percent compared to last year.
“We believe in the positivity going forward,” Polanco said. “The customer is out and about and no longer in sweats, and there is so much fun and newness in denim.”
Sanctuary Clothing reintroduced the category with five women’s styles nodding to the ’80s and ’90s: a “flashback” wide-leg jean, a ’90s straight leg jean, a denim shirt dress and a cropped button-down shirt in a faded stonewash. Select styles are available in “cascade,” a lightwash indigo, and “vintage white.”
The pieces are merchandised online with trendy swirl print tops, vibrant sweatshirts and cropped tees.
The collection is now available online and at retailers such as Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom. Prices range from $129-$179—up from its previous denim collection, which hovered between $79-$159. Sizes range from 24-34, with an “inclusive collection” featuring sizes 14W-24W.
Though the denim offering is starting out small, Polanco says there will be more to come—specifically in the form of a printed summer jean its designers are calling “artist pants.”
“As master pant makers, it was only a natural for us to add denim to our lifestyle collection,” she said. “We are very happy with the fit and quality of our initial styles.”