French Dressing Jeans – 'Real Fit for Real Women'

17 Jul '08

3 min read

French Dressing Jeans, the iconic Montreal jean brand that built its reputation and business on a "Real Fit for Real Women" is poised for a major comeback this summer.

FDJ Monde Inc, the former owner of the French Dressing Jeans brand, filed for bankruptcy protection in December. A group of three Montreal-based apparel industry players has acquired the iconic brand (for an undisclosed amount).

The group, Noah Stern, President of Levy Canada Fashion Company, Groupe Corwik and one of its senior managers manage companies that have over $100 million in combined annual revenues, and has plans for an aggressive re-launch of the brand in Canada and the USA. The brand name will carry into the new company called "FDJ French Dressing Inc".

According to Noah Stern, the new CEO of FDJ French Dressing Inc, the partners plan to capitalize on the "very high levels of consumer brand recognition of and loyalty to the French Dressing brand" as well as the company's extensive distribution system which consists of well over 2,000 independent and specialty boutique retailers across Canada and the U.S.A.

Ayal Twik, Vice-President of Business Development at Groupe Corwik and now Vice-President of FDJ French Dressing Inc. agrees, calling it an iconic brand in North America with an amazing reputation among both retailers and customers.

After a highly successful run from the 1970's through to only a few years ago, FDJ Monde Inc veered off course from its specialized focus on denim, to expand their product line into coordinated ladies sportswear.

This misplaced strategy, combined with the struggling economy south of the border is what Len Miller, former President of FDJ Monde, attributes as the main reasons for his former company's recent financial struggles.

Miller, who briefly left the company because of illness and a short-lived retirement, has been hired by the new partners as the president of FDJ French Dressing Inc to continue to
oversee the sales growth of the French Dressing brand in North America.

His late uncle David Mindlin founded the predecessor to FDJ Monde Inc in 1908, then known as the Keystone Overall & Pants Manufacturing Ltd.

Miller and the partners are excited by the aggressive marketing campaign that will re-launch the brand in time for the Spring 2009 fashion season.

The strategy will be planned and executed with the help of Glen Eisenberg, president of Precision, the Montreal marketing and communications firm.

The consortium has earmarked a significant budget (millions of dollars) to marketing the core values of the French Dressing Jeans brand - what Stern calls "the company's four pillars of success: fit, quality, customer service and a commitment to the independent/specialty store market, with an "independents first" policy."

In addition to fit and quality, servicing the independent specialty retailer is paramount to the success of the brand. The new marketing campaign will lend support to French Dressing's customer base by showcasing the quality of the fit, thereby introducing new customers to the brand and reminding its faithful fans that wearing French Dressing gives every woman a super silhouette that is slimming, comfortable and fashionable - says Twik, "we are not like all the other jean companies trying to convince woman that she should fit into junior jeans designed for 18 year old girls.

Every day of every year, we work towards and remain committed to providing jeans and related items designed with a REAL FIT for REAL WOMEN.

This is synonymous with what French Dressing has built in the marketplace, and that's where we will continue to focus all our energies".

French Dressing Jeans

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