Plus-size fashion retailer Torrid is taking a cue from its customers, featuring them as models for its fall 2015 campaign.
The City of Industry company often uses professional models, but following up on customer suggestions, Lisa Harper, Torrid’s chief executive, said she decided to change things up a bit.
“Our customers often ask us why we don’t show our clothes on real girls as well as professional models, and we’ve answered,” Harper said in a statement. “It’s a powerful thing to turn the camera on them and give them a platform to express themselves. These young women have been ignored by the fashion industry for too long (and) we want to turn that around.”
The campaign, which launched last week, features Torrid customers such as Redondo Beach resident and wedding cake designer Kiara Boughner on the cover of its fall catalog. Boughner spent a day doing a photo shoot at her family’s ranch, modeling her favorite pieces from the new collection.
The catalog also features Kia Billinger, a registered nurse from La Verne, and Zen Josey of La Mirada, who works for a video-game company.
The campaign, which is also displayed in stores and online, includes personal photos, a video and a short biography on each of Torrid’s customer models.
Feedback about the new campaign has been positive so far, the company said, and Torrid plans to use customers again for its upcoming holiday catalog.
Torrid was founded in 2001 and is owned by City of Industry teen retailer Hot Topic Inc. The company has more than 300 retail stores and sells apparel and accessories to women who wear sizes 12 to 28.
Quick Serve
Hollywood fast-causal concepts Drnk coffee and tea and Qwench juice bar are speeding things up. The companies, which have common ownership, have between them opened nine locations since launching two years ago. Now there are plans to expand internationally.
Mitch Baker, chief marketing officer for both businesses, said the existing locations in areas such as Hollywood, Long Beach and downtown Los Angeles are company owned, but now a franchise model is being considered.
“Right now, they are all corporate stores, but we just started our franchise sales process three weeks ago,” Baker said. “The interest has been overwhelming, not only in the U.S., but from the Middle East, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.”
He added that the company is also in the process of closing a deal with a franchisee in Vancouver, Canada.
While the two concepts are separate brands, they can also work in the same space as a co-branded location, Baker said. Right now, the company operates two co-branded locations.
Drnk offers coffee, organic espresso and tea. Shoppers can also grab made-to-order sandwiches, salads and parfaits. At Qwench, the focus is on squeezed juices and smoothies.
Baker said its franchise business is moving quickly, but it was a plan that was in place from the beginning.
“We’ve been working on this since we launched in 2013,” he said. “(The co-founders) come from a world of franchising – Pinkberry, Robeks – so we have a really strong foundation.”
Revolving Doors
Spanish retailer Zara opened a location last week at Glendale Galleria. … Rockville, Md., hospitality firm Choice Hotels International Inc.; San Francisco investment firm Fillmore Capital Partners; and Worthington, Ohio, hospitality management company Fillmore Hospitality broke ground on Cambria El Segundo LAX last week. The 152-room upscale hotel is expected to open late next year. … Chef Anne Conness, formerly of restaurants Tin Roof Bistro and Simmzy’s, and partners Sorin Costache and Joseph Suceveanu will be opening “nuevo rancho”-style restaurant Sausal in El Segundo next month. … Portland ice-cream shop Salt & Straw will be opening a location in Venice this fall and an outpost in downtown L.A.’s Arts District in the winter. It already has a Larchmont Village location. … New York women’s apparel and accessories brand Rebecca Minkoff opened its first L.A. flagship store, a 4,600-square-foot space on Melrose Avenue, last week. It also features the first storefront for the brand’s menswear line, Uri Minkoff, previously known as Ben Minkoff. … New York women’s label Tory Burch will be opening a 3,000-square-foot retail space in November at the Americana at Brand in Glendale. … L.A. hospitality company SBE, with its real estate subsidiary Dakota Development and New York design firm Rockwell Group, announced last week it would be redesigning West Hollywood nightlife venue Greystone Manor and restaurant Mercato di Vetro. Both are expected to reopen next year. … Restaurateur Sam Fox opened True Food Kitchen and North Italia at shopping center Point in El Segundo last month. North Italia is the first L.A. location for the Phoenix company.
Staff reporter Subrina Hudson can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 549-5225, ext. 251.
