Feelin' Lucky?

Lucky Brand Jeans have been well known for years. I have visited the Lucky Brand store quite a few times and I always wondered what the story behind the brand was, so I looked it up and here it is:

The Story of Lucky Brand

Rooted in rock 'n 'roll with a signature sense of humor, Lucky Brand stands for independent thinking, individual style and a feeling as authentic as love. Friends since youth, creators Gene Montesano and Barry Perlman shipped the first order of Lucky Brand in 1990, and have been renowned for their great-fitting, vintage-inspired jeans ever since.

Gene and Barry's life long passions were blue jeans and rock 'n' roll. While experiencing the hippie-counterculture movement in the U.S. in the 1970s, the then-21-year-old Gene teamed up with 17-year-old Barry, and friend Bill Rudnick, to open a jeans shop in Florida called Four Way Street. It was 1972 and they were officially in the jeans business, "During the evenings, we'd head out to the local Laundromat with our pockets full of coins and some bleach. A few hours later, we had a stack of great washed jeans -- one of a kind and 100% authentic!"

Gene moved to Los Angeles in 1978 "with $100 in his pocket" and entered the burgeoning Los Angeles fashion industry. He started Bongo Jeans with partner Michael Caruso and helped run the Bongo brand for 15 years, helping it grow into a multi-million dollar company. In 1990, Gene left Bongo to launch his dream, Lucky Brand, and asked Barry to become his business partner once again. The Goal? To create a denim company without compromise, about great quality and good humor.

Lucky Brand became instantly recognized for its attention to fit, but there was one more detail to follow. Gene wanted to put a message in the fly, and came up with the catch phrase "Lucky You." The irreverent play on words and strategic placement of the "Lucky You" message bucked the 1990s politically correct climate, attracting some unfavorable advice, "Don't do it. People won't buy it, they'll be offended!"

As promised, Gene refused to compromise and his good-humored "Lucky You" signature was a gamble that paid off. In next to no time, the phones were ringing with people demanding those jeans with the "Lucky You" in the fly.

Lucky Brand is built on moments like these, of irrefutable attitude and vision without compromise. Los Angeles and the free-spirited Southern California lifestyle continue to inspire the company's style. The story of Lucky Brand is the story of two great friends moving to California and starting a jeans brand. The rest is history.