By Stephanie Jones
DTLA’s own Noblita Clothing, who started the jegging craze by bringing non-denim jeans to Fred Segal in 2008, is continuing its green clothing campaign and there’s no stopping them now. With the Spring 2013 collection in the store and Fall 2014 already in showrooms nationwide, Noblita is rolling out their newest line in green-wear – Verde.
“We have two lines in the store. One is Noblita, which is the name of the store. Noblita is a true manufacturer. We sell to all the stores,” said Rik Guido, proprietor of Noblita Clothing. “Then we have a brand new company, a brand new line, that is also run the same way. It’s called Verde. You can find Verde in our store located just south of 7th and Spring Street in the Historic Core.
Verde is 100% made in LA made out of organic California certified cotton and recycled plastic bottles that are knitted into the yarn. So, it’s a 100% true organic clothing line.”
While Noblita Clothing focuses on pants, Verde is a more extensive line of knit shirts, pants, and jackets. It aims to make up-cycling much more fashionable for the average Angeleno, particularly for teenage girls who prefer skinny jeans.
And their battle cry shows it.
“We own the trademark ‘non-denim jeans,’” said Guido. “So, we were the first ones with the tight legging, jegging type pant out of a jean but all of our fabrics in the store from Noblita are non-denim. So, Noblita’s cliché is basically non-denim jeans and then we do some really great [options] to go around that. But [with] Verde, we [saw] a tremendous void in recycling products, fabric, and saving the planet and there was a tremendous void of actually making it in LA, which gives everybody in Los Angeles jobs.”
By popular demand, Noblita has also decided to add menswear to its resume.
“Beyond this, Noblita is going to spin off and be doing mens. We get a tremendous amount of men who want to wear the tight knit pants now, so we’re going to do a boot leg, a knit pant for men on Noblita,” said Guido. “And we’re also going to be adding the Verde mens, which will be oversized sweatshirts and sweatpants and tank tops [and] t-shirts. But both divisions will be splitting off into mens based on our retail store experience of men wanting to buy both labels and styles.”
In the store, Noblita’s spring collection includes a bright, 15-color palette for their pants as well tops and bottoms in lovable, wild prints. Leggings are also being sold in iridescent and sequined patterns. Examples of Verde’s almost shabby chic tees (recycling doesn’t have to look shabby) can be found on Noblita’s Facebook page.
“Noblita in about two years will become the first branded jean line that is made out of non-denim,” said Guido, explaining the non-denim market. “We are trying to get every girl to have two or three pairs of Noblita knit pants in their closet just like they have two or three pairs of denim in their closet.”
That’s the goal. Two or three non-denim pants for every teenage girl, a smaller footprint, and more jobs in downtown LA. After being mentioned as a sponsor for the Pre-Grammy Gifting Suite by The Firm LA and Real TV Films for this year’s Grammy Awards, the company is on their way to meeting that goal but still has a ways to go. Although the brand currently competes with heavy hitters like J Brand and True Religion, Noblita’s price range is a bit kinder on the pocketbook with a retail price range of $38 to $98. And Guido is confident in both the store’s direction and their place in the LA market:
“The store is doing great. We’re very happy and thanking all of our customers downtown. It’s going to be a while before it takes off. I’m very busy but I’m very happy with the traffic and the customer in downtown LA has really been very, very gracious to us. And we’re very excited about Verde because Verde is a true, organic line that is helping save the planet.
