The activity was incredible. "Buyers were being drawn in as if by Broadway lights," recalls Zuckerman. "The product just overwhelms you in a positive way."

The product in question was Sledge's cotton women's tops with unique tattoo-like prints. The result was every trade show exhibitor's dream: "I watched as a packed booth of special stores bought up the line."

Zuckerman was so impressed with the line that he ended up closing his business and becoming the national sales manager for Sledge.
The line was founded nine years ago as a retail store on Melrose Avenue by French native Phillippe Tabeoul. The 46-year-old designer had mastered a production process that no one has been able to copy, Zuckerman says. "Phillippe has a unique way of processing the colors and cotton, crinkling the fabric and then printing on it. All three processes somehow work for him, and no one's been able to knock him off or copy him. His printing is very advanced and very technically detailed."

Sledge is a vertically integrated company whose entire production process is done right here in Los Angeles. The line is now sold in Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Dillard's and many specialty stores.

The tops could easily fetch $100, Zuckerman says, but Tabeoul opted to lower his profit margin and price them at $58-$89 retail. It was a brilliant move, says Zuckerman.  "That's the key to Phillippe's success: When you offer quality, craftsmanship, and hot and fun colors and prints, and you don't overprice it. Women are buying two and three at the counter."
Choosing volume over profit margin has resulted in rapid growth for Sledge. The future is "straight up, the sky's the limit," says Zuckerman, who estimates Sledge's sales are up four to sixfold over last year.

Future plans include a men's collection, which ships this fall, a New York corporate office, and a more diversified product range, the details of which are kept secret by Tabeoul, whom Zuckerman describes as a "reclusive rock-and-roll biker."

First Published 6/14/07