January 23, 2007

RICHLU

Richlu maybe known around Canadian construction sites for their no-nonsense work gear such as modelled by these guys here, but they've hit big in Europe with their Hydro jackets which are being snapped up by fashionistas. Could there be hope for the Kenora dining jacket?

Work Wear

Get gone Gucci, right on Richlu!

Canadian work wear maker is the toast of Euro Haute Couture

WINNIPEG

Hard as it may be to believe, the latest must-have outdoor apparel for European fashionistas can also be found in the closets of thousands of Canadian hydro and construction workers who toil in sub-zero climes.

Winnipeg-based Richlu Manufacturing has tapped into a European demand for fashionable workwear, resulting in tailored versions of its Tough Duck jackets that have been featured in Vogue and GQ and are selling next to Dolce & Gabbana and Ralph Lauren in some of the trendiest boutiques.

No one is more surprised at the company’s new clientele than president and chief executive David Rich.

“We’re a workwear company _ I walk around in jeans and a T-shirt,” said Rich, 63.

“I’m certainly not a fashion icon, let me tell you, but to see this is wonderful. We’re amazed and gratified.”

Richlu is a family-owned business that has operated in Winnipeg since 1939 and now employs about 200 people.

Its traditional business has been the Hydro Parka - designed by Rich’s father Abraham in the 1950s and featuring big scoop pockets so hydro workers could carry everything they need up and down utility poles - and an assortment of other jackets, overalls, quilted shirts and other workwear.

“They’re made for the outdoor working guy who needs protection against not only the cold, but abrasion and working conditions,” said Rich.

The company is now the largest work outerwear manufacturer in Canada, selling over one million units a year.

Richlu also makes private labels for retailers, including a line of overalls named for home renovation guru Mike Holmes.

About two years ago, one of Richlu’s catalogues somehow got into the hands of Italian entrepreneur Alberto Raengo, whose company Cruz is part of the Miss Sixty Corp.

Raengo saw the potential for a new line of jackets and parkas, and a partnership with Richlu was born.

The company now tailors its Tough Duck line for European boutiques by replacing the heavier polyester lining with down, using softer - and more expensive - cottons and making the jackets more fitted.

The workwear jackets sell for $60-$170 in Canada at stores such as Home Depot and Canadian Tire, while their European counterparts are priced at about $525.

The European Tough Duck jackets represent about five per cent of Richlu’s total sales volume.

Rich says he doesn’t plan to spend much time or energy worrying about whether the trend will spread to North America.

The company’s current success is just a welcome, but unexpected bonus.

“We still concentrate on our main business, we just work,” said Rich. “We work to make the best garments in the world. If it happens that we become as big as everyone says we’re going to become, that’s just great.”

CANADIAN PRESS

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