Scott Morrison and Carlos Quirarte — both formerly of Earnest Sewn — are now shaking things up at Evisu. And they kicked off a brand overhaul by bringing out the downtown set and arousing the old Jane Ballroom crowd Monday night at Evisu's holiday Party (right down to Jane bouncer Lyz at the door).
The brand that was once hot enough to be rapped about by Jay-Z but lost its way in recent years called in help from New York cool kids Todd Selby, Matt Kliegman, and Harry McNally to help reintroduce the denim. While "it girls" in the crowd like Ally Hilfiger, Bonnie Morrison, Chrissie Miller, and Sabine Heller were told they would have to wait until next month for the launch of the new women's line, guys in attendance such as Alexander Olch, DJ Matt Creed, and Style.com writer Darrell Hartman all walked away with a new pair of the re-branded Evisu jeans.
In its past incarnation, Evisu was a pioneer of the premium denim trend, paving the way for the $200 pairs of jeans in stores today.
"Evisu was one of the earliest innovators in the premium denim field when it launched almost two decades ago," said Morrison, who co-founded Paper Denim & Cloth in 1999 and Earnest Sewn in 2004. "This is an exciting and very unique challenge for me as I'm taking an iconic brand with one of the most recognizable logos in the world and pushing it in a new direction with a entirely new collection."
PHOTOS (by Patrick McMullan's David X Prutting):
If Twitter is any indication, the rebrand came swiftly, as already fans of the old, flashier Evisu have declared the brand "played out." See below.