Chaz Jordan has spent years developing his own apparel brands that have a definite streetwear vibe that is ultra-cool.
His latest brand, 1989 Studio, was launched in 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and provided consumers with their basic sartorial needs including T-shirts, sweats and denim. Later looks branched out to suiting, leather jackets, women’s skirts and dresses.
When 1989 Studio was sold to the Italian-based Folli Follie Group late last year, Jordan was up for a new adventure. He found it as the new creative adviser to Los Angeles-based Vayder, guiding the fashion look of the relatively new menswear brand spearheaded by Jon Geller, the men’s director of well-known L.A. contemporary lifestyle brand Paige. Vayder is carried at Selfridges, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom.
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“This is the first time in my career that I’ve worked for a company that was established. I’ve spent the better part of the past 12 years conceptualizing and growing brands from scratch,” Jordan said. “This role has allowed me to focus on what I do best, which is creative and world building.”
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Geller said he and Jordan immediately connected. “When I met Chaz, our visions for the brand were so very much aligned, and I knew he was the person to lead us creatively moving forward,” said the Vayder founder, whose father is Michael Geller and whose stepmother is Paige Adams-Geller, who founded Paige 20 years ago. “His history in the luxury space speaks for itself, and I cannot wait to share his vision of what the contemporary space can be.”
That history includes Jordan working alongside legends including the late Virgil Abloh and Don Crawley, the streetwear designer known as Don C. With that fashion experience, Jordan later began developing a number of brands now sold. He launched his first brand, Au Courant, in 2012 when he was 22. His second brand, Ih Nom Uh Nit, gained popularity in celebrity and pop culture circles before being sold in 2018.
In his new role, Jordan jumped in and completed Vayder’s spring 2025 collection, which will get a private showing in Paris on June 25 before it is launched.
“My assignment was essentially, make this brand as big as possible as fast as possible doing what you know how to do. So, I didn’t really have any guardrails,” Jordan said. “Jon really wanted Vayder to become a staple brand of Los Angeles. …There aren’t too many brands that come to mind that represent Los Angeles. There are a lot of brands that are in Los Angeles that come from here, but they’re all trying to be something that is not necessarily Los Angeles.”
To find that L.A. look, the new Vayder designer spent time observing what resonated among guys in the Southern California metropolis. He found popular styles include flannel shirts, T-shirts, as well as vintage Ts, slimmer fitting jeans and comfortable, casual fabrics. “We will also definitely be drawing from that rock star way of life without going too heavy into it,” he explained. “We still want an element of the urban.”
His target demographic is the 18- to 40-year-old consumer looking for a casual, elevated hip look that is easy to wear. He expects to tap into his Italian connections to manufacture the brand as well as work with factories in Los Angeles and Mexico.
“Hopefully, I can contribute to accelerating a much-needed update within the contemporary menswear space, showing that there’s much more to offer beyond the traditional contemporary staples,” Jordan said. “My goal is not to reinvent the wheel but make a better wheel utilizing the same inputs. It’s truly about perspective.”