Citizens of Humanity recently announced the brand new creative directors of their mens and womenswear respectively – Simon Miller and Catherine Ryu. Miller will head up the men’s design beginning with the Fall 2014 season, while women’s head designer Ryu (who began with Citizens of Humanity in Fall 2012) will begin her tenure in the Summer and Fall 2014 seasons.
Founder and CEO Jerome Dahan stated, “Creativity is a collaborative process and we are interested in building the strongest possible design team to continue to push the brand forward and bring great product to our customers. Simon and Catherine have a deep understanding and appreciation of denim, a sophisticated taste level and an understanding of how to fully build a brand and its image. Working with both of them to further develop the Citizens of Humanity brand, for men’s and women’s, is exciting for me and Adriano Goldschmied.”
President Amy Williams also added, “As we continue to build our brand in the US and International markets, it’s critical to have the strongest possible design team that can lead both the product effort and overall creative direction of the company. Jerome has been a leader in advancing the premium denim market and in launching two great brands while Adriano is, and has been, a major pioneer in the industry. By building the talent and leadership in our design team it will allow us to further advance our products, our direct to consumer experience and build the brand in the Global Markets. Over the last year, we have been focused on our branding efforts and this Fall we are launching our e-commerce platform, a new retail partner program and opening our first freestanding store in Japan. It is an exciting time for the brand, especially with this fresh talent on the team.”
Ryu was born in South Korea and raised in Toronto, Canada. She studied fashion design at Ryerson University where she was recruited to Club Monaco, later working at Urban Outfitters and Calvin Klein Jeans. Ryu is passionate about denim – the fabric, the wash development, and the overall process of making jeans – and joined the Gap where she learned to merchandise and better understand how important it is to create a product that sells. After developing her career in premium denim in NYC, Ryu moved to Los Angeles for a position at AG Adriano Goldschmied. After seven years at AG, she went on to Citizens of Humanity, where she would work alongside the original trailblazers of premium denim, Adriano Goldschmied and Jerome Dahan.
About Citizens of Humanity
Established in 2003, Citizens of Humanity has captivated the fashion world with a rigorous commitment to cutting edge denim styling, comfort and fit without compromise. With over 25 years of experience in the denim industry, founder Jerome Dahan, is a true visionary and the first to bring the concept of luxury designer denim to the global marketplace. Citizens of Humanity designs, markets and produces more than one million pairs of jeans annually in an internal laundry facility to ensure the product is unparalleled. Citizens of Humanity is distributed in over 1300 retailers in more than 35 countries including high-end specialty boutiques such as Curve, Fred Segal, Scoop, Madison and Anthropologie; online at Shopbop.com and MyTheresa.com as well as in luxury department stores Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s. For more information, please visit www.citizensofhumanity.com.
