L’Agence Unveils Global Expansion Plans at Paris Fashion Week Spring 2027

PARIS — When L.A.-based brand L’Agence decamped from New York to Paris for its spring 2027 presentation, its garden party at The Ritz was positioned as a launch pad for its global expansion ambitions.

“There’s a reason why being in Paris is so important — because you get noticed, you get the right level of attention in Paris, more so than you would see in other markets,” said chief executive officer Jonny Saven of the city’s more international appeal, including pulling scores of buyers from Japan and China.

The Paris presentation portends bigger plans — including a 1,500-square-foot space at legacy department store Printemps, set to open at the end of this month.

The shop-in-shop will serve as the brand’s new retail foothold in the capital, after it shuttered its previous store-slash-showroom in the Marais.

They moved their showroom to the city’s Golden Triangle, just steps from the Alaïa store, though the bulk of the European sales team currently sits in London. They’re also actively seeking out flagship real estate on Rue Saint-Honoré.

“Paris is key for our distribution efforts. We also have a nice business in the Middle East, so that’s a nice trifecta between Paris, the Middle East, and London as well. Those markets work well off each other,” said Saven.

The brand selected Printemps after fashion director Tara Rudes-Dann held private appointments with 30 VICs. Once Printemps saw the sales numbers on that event, the department store “saw the power of the brand” and carved out a space for them.

While London remains its largest European market, the brand has already established a significant wholesale presence across Europe, including roughly 80 stores in Italy, said founder and chairman Jeff Rudes. Italy would be an easy opening, but Rudes wants to take his time building the market.

“We don’t want to go into a territory that doesn’t know us. We could easily open a stand-alone store now in Rome. We’re getting known, but it’s too soon. But what we do know — first, build the wholesale market, and then open a store,” said Rudes of his slow growth perspective.

South Korea is a template. L’Agence launched in the country in early 2024, with a potential for 15 stores. Yet it settled on seven to make sure they were the right locations and opportunities. And unlike other brands entering the market, L’Agence went it solo. They have a country director and a full in-house team on the ground.

Overall, the brand sees South Korea as a springboard to Asia.

“The market to grow a brand right now is Seoul. It is the market. It’s youth culture, clothing. Everybody wants to go to Seoul,” said Rudes. “So we knew if we demonstrate success, eyes are all on us.”

Japan and China are in its sights, although the company has already turned down an approach from a major Chinese entity, Rudes said, as they want to increase brand awareness and build infrastructure before expanding there.

That strategy also extends to the Middle East, where the company operates two physical spaces at Harvey Nichols and Bloomingdale’s in Dubai, and has a strong online business with Ounass. Further expansion in the region, including potential partnerships, is being considered over the next two years.

The brand envisions stand-alone stores in Dubai within 24 months, and likely more locations across the region.

That same discernment is also playing out inside the stores. Over the past two seasons, L’Agence has cut its assortment by about 30 percent, even as it builds out categories, said Saven.

“When we reduced the line, we did more business with less skus because there’s a point of view and there’s a focus. It’s difficult for our salespeople when it’s too wide,” said Rudes. “Less is more. Let’s go minimalist, but do it right.”

The brand applied this philosophy particularly across its work to refine the denim category, which accounts for roughly 30 to 35 percent of the business. It pared back its offering, eliminating dusters, dresses and other peripheral styles in favor of a tightly edited selection of core jean styles to sharpen the category’s identity.

Previously, the company had been merchandising denim throughout the store alongside other ready-to-wear. It has now begun giving denim its own dedicated space, allowing customers to focus on fit and compare the brand’s strongest styles.

“You know today, people want to move quick. What’s the best fit? What works for me? And if you can’t give it to them right away in a jean, you can lose them,” Rudes said.

“Our whole life is about the edit,” he added.

The company said the change has already produced a 10 to 15 percent bump in denim sales at its Madison Avenue and Beverly Hills stores, where the grouping was introduced over the summer.

The strategy is being extended to Dallas and the upcoming Bal Harbour store, while denim bars have also been introduced at several Saks locations.

“Our customer trusts us. She’s not just buying clothes from us. She’s coming to be dressed as well, and so our stores are really styling her and dressing her,” said Saven. “So when we have the edit, the curation is easier for the customer. It’s easier for the salesperson, and honestly, it equates to a bigger, healthier business for us as well.”

That philosophy will soon be extended online.

Its website has around 1,800 stock keeping units, but rather than forcing customers to navigate the entire “supermarket,” as Rudes called it, items will be honed into curated shops including T-shirts, shirts, dresses, as well as black and white as color categories.

The customer will still have access to hundreds of T-shirts across the site, but see a more elevated and curated edit in the dedicated shop.

“It’s the best of the best,” said Rudes.

L’Agence is also deepening existing design. Dresses have been a major focus this year; sweaters will be a priority over the next 12 months.

The slowdown in the luxury market has been “very beneficial to us, honestly, because we’re on the higher end of contemporary to begin with, and from an aesthetic perspective, we do sort of fit up against the designer [segment] quite nicely,” said Saven.

“We found that a lot of that designer or ‘affordable luxury’ [client base] has gravitated to the brand because of our positioning, and it’s actually been a very good moment because of the space we sit in,” he added.

The brand has been expanding accessories, and launched a tennis whites capsule this summer that sold out almost immediately. There are plans to expand those sporty types of pieces, and they will launch an eyewear collaboration with Linda Farrow before the holiday season.

Rudes hinted that they are already in development on a scent, and said they currently are “having conversations” about intimate apparel.

Rudes sees it as “potentially, a full lifestyle brand” with home, cosmetics and fragrance — eventually.

But first he wants to take it slow.

“Let’s have her be a ready-to-wear, jean, outerwear customer. Let her become brand loyal before we get into cosmetics,” said Rudes. “Beauty is realistic — and it’s a great business — but she really needs to love the brand first to buy cosmetics for more than just a nice product.”