For designer Chaz A. Jordan, the past decade has “been a minute” as he gave the ultimate adjustments ahead of the primary show of 1989 Studio, his latest brand founded in 2021.

Showing in Paris, “doing damage like Rick [Owens] and Balmain under Christophe Decarnin” in the identical venues, felt like an investment finally coming to fruition. 

“My time here was special super formative — 2013 is once I moved to Paris. I used to be with Virgil [Abloh] and that whole crew, we were running around, it was watching the throne period,” he recalled.

Now that he was there, the moment felt bittersweet but he was “glad that [he and the team] finally made the statement in the precise time,” with a few of the old crew, including Don C and Salehe Bembury in his front row.   

It also felt like the start of a latest chapter for Jordan, after 2022’s summer of changes that saw him part with Uh Nom Ih Nit, sold to “considered one of the Italian groups” he declined to call and currently on hiatus, and the acquisition of 1989 Studio by Italian retail company Folli Follie Group a month later in a deal he described as “essentially a lifetime take care of a big equity stake.”

The label was born of Jordan’s pandemic-time remark that a relatable brand with a cheaper price point would find resonance.

“Many individuals were affected financially so I desired to offer a product and experience that [they] would find uplifting,” similar to nostalgic references, he explained.

Jordan decided to forgo giving his name to the brand since “far more people related to 1989 than to Chaz Jordan,” he said. The date, his yr of birth, is likely to be specific but anyone in “a three-year plus or minus [range] on either side” can still consider themselves a part of the 1989 Studio family, he joked.

One other idea he desired to pursue was that the brand was less about dictating a particular look and more about offering options that cater to a wide selection of shapes and sizes.

In a nutshell, the brand that resulted may be “whatever you would like,” a tag line the designer and his team often tossed about when asked about style selections.

Inbuilt the style of a wardrobe, Jordan created the range by considering his sartorial needs “from the time I wake as much as the time I am going to sleep,” starting with basics of t-shirts, sweats and denim; followed by suiting and leather pieces, and as much as faux-fur, this season’s latest addition. The brand has grown from 60 references in its first season, to 160 for fall 2023.

Throughout, particular attention was paid to the fabrications and textiles, with Jordan saying that he’d favored lower margins to maintain prices at a up to date price level.

Prices for 1989 Studio start around 200 euros for printed t-shirts and 400 euros for denim, with its popular “Rue Saint Honoré” sweatshirts going for 395 euros. Sitting at the upper end are leather jackets, between 1,000 and a couple of,400 euros, and the range’s costliest item is a suede puffer with a recycled down feather filling, retailing slightly below 3,000 euros.

That’s to not say he’ll limit the brand’s output to staple items. Unveiled on the show was also a 25-pair limited-edition run of its sneakers, in collaboration with artist Swithadot Studios and lace expert Customs by J1, that may retail for five,000 euros.

“I feel prefer it’s essential to ascertain yourself at that prime level, but a majority of the collections will all the time be accessible,” Jordan noted, calling this “culturally accessible luxury.”

He sent out a coherent lineup of baggy trousers, bootcut jeans, hoodies, knits, leather jackets, smartly-cut blazers and trousers, offered up in permutations across a broad range of character archetypes. There was even a floor-grazing skirt, worn by female and male models to striking results.

While Jordan designs with a gender in mind so the general range “doesn’t grow to be one blur,” the brand intends to straddle the lads’s and ladies’s divide by following the designer’s belief that “with regards to apparel, you’ll be able to of course interchange the 2 — it’s only a matter of sizing.”

Cases in point: his own penchant for Chanel pearls, a vintage cardigan he “literally took off a grandma,” and a snazzy Liz Clairborne denim jacket from the ‘90s.

Not only does it foster inclusivity, nevertheless it’s also a canny business decision. Jordan identified that limited size range excludes “all of the those who will promote your brand at no cost,” similar to celebrities and athletes.

Because it stands, the brand will go as much as a 3-XL, and a size 40 waist in denim, along with offering custom-made services for anyone outside the range. 

Firday’s show also marked an ambitious latest step within the brand’s industrial development, which currently hovers around 15 retail points and its own e-commerce, supported by the group’s investments.

For now, Japan is the brand’s largest market, followed by Europe. Despite being Jordan’s home market, the U.S. stays a troublesome nut to crack because his “peers have such a robust hold,” making him feel like “slightly brother” attempting to carve an area for himself.

The designer may not be feeling that way for long. Starting this season, it’s going to be represented by Tomorrow showroom and Jordan outlined plans to take the brand physically to its consumers through a series of pop-up retail locations, naming Los Angeles, Tokyo and London as destinations.

“I tell the team ’96 Bulls’ [after the exceptional 1996 season of the NBA team],” said Jordan. “It looks like we have now just began.”