(Filed Under wholesale Lingerie News). With the help of almost a decade of experience as a women’s boutique owner, Jill Carrade seems to have gotten her intimates and activewear line, jKNIX, a “small start up,” in her words, off and running faster than many new brands.
Carrade told BODY in late January that the California-made collection, launched in September, 2014, is already in 27 boutiques (but no lingerie shops yet). She declined to provide the names of any current stores.
Carrade explained she will be exhibiting at the upcoming Curvexpo show in Las Vegas in hopes of finding additional buyers. “As a retailer I went to Coterie, Magic and LA market.”
The name of the brand comes from a combination of the first letter in the designer’s first name along with a contraction of the word knickers. “Research shows us, there is plenty of room in the market for a line like ours. In fact, there is a need for it. I knew if I could develop a great product with color, fit fabric - over time, the buyers will come,” she told BODY.
The 20-piece line includes two boy shorts at thong and a g-string (all retailing for $29); a bandeau bra ($42); a bralette ($49); three tank tops (all $51) and a cami ($53). There are also two long sleeve T’s (both $63); two short sleeve T’s (both $53); leggings ($110); a track pant ($143); a cat suit ($130); a dress ($105); a slip tank ($79) and a wrap ($110). Carrade declined to provide wholesale prices
The jKNIX founder operated her own boutique, Green Apples, in Sausalito, CA from 1999 through 2008. While the focus was on women’s apparel, she told BODY, she did carry two intimates collections: Cosabella and Hanky Panky. “Those two vendors were very important vendors for us. We kept our lines very tight and multi purpose. That is why jKNIX is so key… it is a very functional multi purpose line that is both functional as well as sexy. Our knickers are seamless which makes it great for a spin class or deserving of a date. Not a lot of lines can offer that.”
The launch of jKNIX was a while in coming. “In 2011 I started putting my ideas to paper. Look, style and feel I wanted. 2012 I started doing all my research. Because I have never been on the manufacturing side before I had to build my team. Find fabric and trims and production facilities. That took a long time. By 2014 we were ready for production. September 2014 we launched.”
While there are several apparel components to the new collection, Carrade was emphatic that her first priority is the lingerie. “We have lots of great ideas. Definitely more to come but again we are focused on intimates.”
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