How L'Agence re-engineered its best-sellers for the 'Petite' customer

The premium denim industry has spent two decades perfecting the fit of a woman who, statistically, is taller than most of its customers. L'Agence's new Les Petites collection is a wager that the correction is overdue, and commercially significant.

The line, which launched this week, is the brand's first built specifically for women 5'4" and under. It arrives with seven of L'Agence's best-selling silhouettes re-engineered for petite proportions: inseams averaging 30 inches, a cropped flare hitting at 24 inches, and adjusted rises, pocket placement, knee breaks and overall proportions rather than a simply shortened leg. It retails from 245 to 395 dollars.

The average American woman stands about 5 feet 3.5 inches, according to the most recent CDC measurement data — at or below the very line L'Agence has drawn for "petite." In other words, the petite shopper isn't a niche at the margins of the size curve; she is closer to the median customer. Yet in premium denim, petite has typically been handled as an afterthought when it's handled at all.

"Les Petites is the direct result of listening to what she wants and how she wants to feel. Every detail matters," said Jeff Rudes, chairman, founder and creative director of L'Agence.

L'Agence is charging its full premium, which frames petite as a precision fit worth paying for. Fit is also the single largest driver of apparel returns, acutely so for petite shoppers who routinely send standard-length denim back or off to a tailor; a purpose-built block is a returns-reduction and full-price sell-through play as much as a fashion one.

"Our woman feels powerful whether she is in jeans and a tee, a gown or suiting. Les Petites is everything she wants in a jean, perfectly cut and contoured for her,” said Tara Rudes, fashion director of the brand.