Jean Atelier is a new denim-based ready-to-wear collection from Citizens of Humanity founder Jerome Dahan and designer Noam Hanoch. Launching at Barneys New York and FWRD Elyse Walker for fall 2017, the collection includes trousers, French lace tops, draped dresses, outerwear as well as elevated and embellished tailored denim shirts, jumpsuits, skirts and jeans.
Dahan and Hanoch worked together for 10 years at Citizens of Humanity before Hanoch launched a collection under his own name, which eventually shuttered. Working on a higher-end denim line was always their goal when they were together at Citizens, but they were hemmed in by the constraints of the contemporary market at the time. For the past year they’ve been working, along with Dahan’s wife Elsa, the brand manager, on Jean Atelier.
“Jean Atelier is more directional creatively and has a much sexier aesthetic [than Citizens of Humanity],” Hanoch said. “We felt like the premium denim space has become very saturated and price-point driven, so we saw a tremendous opportunity in the market for a designer denim brand with a strong point of view.”
“In the last few years the denim market became very oversaturated with basics,” Elsa said. “The retail market wasn’t great in the last few years,
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