From Wilshire to Paris, Los Angeles-based fashion line L’Agence is on the rise

For its first decade, Los Angeles-based fashion brand L’Agence operated a single boutique on Melrose Place.

To build its women’s clothing brand, the company focused on selling Paris-inspired clothing at other retailers and online. The styles — silk blouses, T-shirts and high-end jeans, mostly priced under $1,000 — attracted early celebrity fans, including Angelina Jolie and Cindy Crawford.

L’Agence opened a second store in New York in 2018, when annual revenues were in the single-digit millions, said co-founder and chief creative officer Jeff Rudes. Around the same time, the company began introducing new product categories: jackets, leather jackets, knitwear, shoes, swimsuits and candles.

Business has picked up steam, with annual sales growing an average of 40% year-over-year since the pandemic began, Rudes said in an interview Tuesday. Online revenue from the company’s website alone last year was “well over $100 million.”

Currently, L’Agence is rapidly expanding its retail presence. The Beverly Hills flagship opened in July 2023, followed by the Malibu flagship four months later. This summer, the company transformed its original Melrose Place store into a denim-focused Jean Bar and launched its first international boutiques in Paris and Seoul.

By the end of the year, L’Agence plans to open two more stores, at Fashion Island in Newport Beach and in Houston.

“They are all profitable, so it makes perfect sense to expand our finances,” Rudes said. But he noted that the company wants to do it carefully — “15 to 20 stores in America, in major fashion cities” rather than 200 locations.

“It’s not a question of, ‘How much can we open?'” he said. “We say, OK, Miami. We are looking at San Francisco and Dallas, cities where our peers are doing well and our wholesalers are doing well.”

L’Agence has an extensive wholesale business and is sold in over 300 retail stores worldwide, including Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom and Revolve.

Currently, L’Agence’s six branded stores generate approximately 10-12% of the company’s gross revenues; the goal is to increase that proportion to about 20% to 25%, Rudes said.

Recent rapid growth has also necessitated a corporate relocation: This week, L’Agence moved from its Arts District headquarters to the historic Harbor Building at Wilshire and Crenshaw boulevards, leasing more than 21,000 square feet on the fifth floor.

Built by Claud Beelman for Tidewater Oil Co. in 1958, the six-story building is located in an urban neighborhood in an area known for being a cheaper alternative to pricier neighboring office markets, said Greg Astor, a real estate broker with JLL who represented the landlord in the transaction. Just over half of L’Agence’s 200 employees will work in the new headquarters.

Rudes, who is also the co-founder of cult denim brand J Brand, founded L’Agence in 2008 with Margaret Maldonado. The fashion line was intended to combine “easy Southern California chic with Parisian sensibilities.”

“We design for her, the client. We don’t design like, ‘Oh, I came back from Saint-Tropez and something looked like a clown, but I think we should have it,'” Rudes said. “We don’t say, ‘Is it branded?’ I say, “Is it her fault?” Is this our girl?”

L’Agence’s target “girl” is typically a sexy woman in her 40s who wants to look and feel more confident, he said. The company has taken a data-driven approach to creating new styles, including routinely surveying its core customers about what they want to wear and sticking to a narrow, carefully selected product range.

Next year, L’Agence will expand its collection to include intimates and sleepwear and plans to open half a dozen new stores. Rudes allayed concerns about a difficult brick-and-mortar landscape for retailers.

“If you do well, your product is good. The market is not suffering,” he said. “We have no fear of expansion.”

Times staff writer Roger Vincent contributed to this report.