Hudson Jeans Gets Fresh Look

Hudson Jeans is fashioning its next chapter.

The Los Angeles-based denim brand, which got a $30 million investment from Fireman Capital Partners and Webster Capital this year, is expanding its mix and will kick off a fall ad campaign featuring rock progeny Georgia May Jagger. Hudson Jeans also is considering the launch of a retail concept.

“One of the key things the investment allows us to do is further the creative process,” chief executive officer Peter Kim said. “When Hudson was founded, the vision was to be the next great iconic brand. The investment brought us resources to take this business from where we are today to where we expect to be when we grow up.”

Advertising executive David Lipman, who is one of Hudson’s investors and an operating partner at Fireman Capital, has taken on the creative direction of the campaign. He also is chairman of Lipman, the agency handling the account, and tapped 17-year-old Jagger for the campaign, which was shot last month in London by Mario Sorrenti and styled by Camilla Nickerson.

“It’s all about her genes — literally and figuratively,” Lipman said at the shoot in an East London studio. “It’s all about the heritage of having Mick Jagger as a dad and Jerry Hall as a mum. But more than anything, it’s her spirit that captivates me.”

Lipman noted that Jagger’s English and American lineage mirrors Hudson’s brand, which has a Union Jack logo. Among the campaign images are ones of Jagger wearing denim cutoffs and lounging on a Union Jack pillow or posing in ripped, bleached jeans against the background of an elegantly disheveled apartment, complete with beat-up leather armchairs and worn afghan rugs.

“It’s the biggest campaign we’ve ever done, and it will take the brand to that next level,” Kim said.

Dan Fireman, chairman of Hudson and managing partner at Fireman Capital, said he sees the fresh direction as “a game changer” for the company: “It’s going to help sell-throughs in an environment where, frankly, things are tighter.”

Kim said the company’s sales could grow 10 to 25 percent during the current fiscal year.

“Hudson without Fireman Capital got to $50 million in sales last year, so it’s almost like they had one weapon before, and now they have a whole arsenal,” Fireman said.