Anemos Los Angeles Expands Lifestyle Offering
Cofounders Joshua Shaub and Lauren Arapage of Los Angeles-based brand Anemos are expanding their luxury swim and resort label with the launch of knitwear and an upcoming, debut fall 2024 collection. The new knitwear line launches Thursday.
The brand launched in 2018 under the name Anemone before changing to Anemos in 2021. Since its inception, the label has become well known for its luxury, minimalist-minded, sustainable swim- and resortwear.
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“I feel like it’s been a natural progression,” Arapage said, speaking to the new knit category launch, “We started as a swimwear brand — we had an idea that there wasn’t a balconette top or ’90s minimalist styles, so we started there and really got our foot in the door. Then with the changes of COVID-19, we started to introduce more linen and lounge pieces to adapt with the environment because people weren’t traveling as much. We’ve seen a really strong reaction from our clothing, so it’s only natural to introduce more categories so we can be available all year round.”
She added that being based in California, layering pieces are key to wardrobing. Furthermore, adding the knits category and debuting the label’s first fall 2024 collection to market in February will allow the brand to build their customer’s wardrobe year-round with four collections per year.
“From a business development standpoint and to touch on Lauren’s point, throughout that COVID-19 lifecycle, especially in 2022, what we saw was that ready-to-wear had become a more significant portion of our business. Ready-to-wear is 70 percent of the business at this point; it’s really driven by the penetration in wholesale,” Shaub said, noting that the rtw makes up 85 percent of the brand’s wholesale business, with dresses being the leading category.
Shaub added that the new knit capsule’s response from wholesale partners has been strong, with key partners such as Moda Operandi, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Revolve picking up the styles.
The duo’s debut knitwear capsule includes Tencel modal stretch and Tencel ribbed stretch styles in shades of black, taupe and espresso (shades that sit back to their summer and resort rtw and swim), such as the bell-sleeve boxy crop sweaters and minidress, open-back maxi tank dresses with side slit, and short-sleeve midi dresses. Prices range from $250 to $345.
“We felt really strongly about finding knitwear fabric that was made in L.A., so Lauren found somewhere that actually knits from fiber here in Los Angeles, then it gets sent to our factory, where it’s cut and sewn… We are becoming carbon-neutral certified; we already ship everything in compostable packaging; everything from our site is shipped carbon-neutral, and all of our UPS orders that we ship to wholesalers, we also always pay for carbon neutrality. All of these things are speaking to as we grow, we’re looking at new ways to maintain sustainability,” Shaub said.
In the future, Arapage envisions the brand expanding from cut-and-sew into woven knits. The company is also in the process of developing its debut men’s line. Speaking to their upcoming fall collection, Shaub noted that the launch will follow their spring model, which successfully launched through a capsule collection.
To accompany the current and upcoming lifestyle and swim offering, the brand is changing its social media handles, advertising, e-commerce URL, logo, etc., to Anemos Los Angeles. The duo stated that this change is not a rebrand, but rather as a way to “resolidify ourselves as not only a swimwear brand, but a lifestyle brand produced and based in Los Angeles.”
“With the word swim and in the brand name, you’re really typecasted. Even when we were creating ready-to-wear, a lot of people in the industry were still calling us a swim brand, so it will be so much better,” Arapage added. “As designers, and with the importance of sustainability with climate change, the most we can do right now is literally message to our customers that we’re sustainable, made in L.A. I think that way we attract the people that we want to sell to as well because she understands climate change, she understands the importance of sustainability. She is a modern dresser and not wearing trendy clothes and getting rid of them.”
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