Selling $300 Jeans in a Down Economy

Michael Ball explains how he built the Rock & Republic brand from scratch and what he's doing to weather the downturn

By Stacy Perman

Michael Ball backstage at a Rock & Republic fashion show in New York City in 2008. Courtesy Rock & Republic

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Rock & Republic is working to keep its brand hot as the luxury market cools. Courtesy Rock & Republic

A little over five years ago, Michael Ball looked at his then-girlfriend's expensive jeans and decided he could design a much better pair himself. Not long after, Ball, who had no fashion design experience, did just that, creating an ultra-slim fitting line that caught on with the celebrity set in Los Angeles. Having stirred interest, he got financial backing, suppliers, and manufacturers together and began selling his high-end jeans for $300 from specialty stores within the city. A cult following soon developed.

Since then, Ball has turned his idea into Culver City (Calif.)-based Rock & Republic, a $300 million brand of men's and women's jeans that now includes cosmetics, accessories, shoes, and other clothing lines that are sold in 86 countries. His long-term goal is to create a far-reaching lifestyle brand that includes boutique hotels and restaurants and a domestic airline. Ball says he is far from done.

From the start, Ball, 43, a former television commercial actor and professional long-distance cyclist, concluded he had to do more than just design cool jeans to be successful in the cutthroat denim market. He had to create a new version of cool. Although he began by planning to construct a high-quality product as a foundation, Ball says: "I was clear about who we were as a brand and who we were going after. The market was clean, edgy, rock-and-roll. I was very confident, take-no-prisoners."

A Life-Changing Purchase

According to market researcher NPD Group, denim is an $11 billion industry in the U.S. and has been growing at around a 5% to 7% clip in recent years. Premium labels such as Rock & Republic now account for a 7% chunk of the total market. "Consumers will pay $300 for the right pair of jeans," says Marshal Cohen, NPD's chief industry analyst. "They see it as an investment."

Moreover, Cohen says, "certain denim brands have made it their focus to be a game-changer. They make you feel really great and you will pay twice as much for those. What [Ball] is able to do is get the consumer of many different age segments and deliver on the implied promise that these jeans will make your life better, you will feel better."

Even in an economic downturn, Cohen calls denim "recession-resistant." "People are going to make significant changes," he says. "They don't have a lot of money in their pockets. They may not buy three pairs, but they will buy one pair and it has to be about who has the right message."

Timing is Everything

At the time of Rock & Republic's debut in 2002, premium jeans (those with price tags that start at $75) were on the rise. Brands like True Religion (TRLG), Citizens for Humanity, Diesel, and 7 for All Mankind had recently hit the market and were catching on. Ball acknowledges that his timing was spot on. "7 was exploding and buyers were looking for the next big thing," he says.

The rest of his success came down to branding and marketing. Following a strategy to create a niche label within a tight space of niche labels, Ball and his partner, Andrea Bernholtz, unveiled the line at fashion shows primed to grab attention. They had models careen down the runway drinking beer, flipping the bird at photographers, and lifting their skirts. "We did things that no one did," Ball recalls.

At the same time, Rock & Republic worked to heighten interest among consumers and retailers by creating scarcity. According to Ball, when Barneys came to him and said it wanted an exclusive deal to sell his line, he turned the luxury department store down.