True Religion wants to be a sought-after, digital-first direct-to-consumer denim brand, and it’s using influencer collaborations and its women’s product assortment to do so.
On Thursday, the 22-year-old brand rolled out its second collection with Jadya Cheaves (@jaydacheaves, 8.9 million Instagram followers), the content creator and founder of apparel brand Waydamin. The collection, called “From True Baddie to the Baddest,” consists of 25 pieces priced under $100. Included are styles and details that have become True Religion signatures since Tina Blake joined the company as head of design in 2022. Among them are faux fur trim, oversized horseshoe and Buddha logos, bedazzled denim, and plush tracksuits.
“One of the biggest questions, particularly on the women’s side of the business, is, ‘How do we acquire millions of new consumers?'” said Kristen D’Arcy, True Religion’s CMO. “It starts with great product and these [influencer] partnerships.”
Twenty percent of the brand’s first collaboration with Cheaves, in October 2023, sold out in the first 24 hours, D’Arcy said. Plus, shoppers spent 103% more time on the brand’s website, compared to an average day, and the conversation rate increased by 211%.
With its influencer partnerships, True Religion aims to strengthen its women’s category and its DTC sales. True Religion is also available at Nordstrom, Urban Outfitters, Macy’s and Amazon, among other retailers.
“When we have launched big influencer campaigns [in the past], we’ve seen increases in traffic to the website of 30-40% and boosts in traffic to our stores of 20-30%,” she said.
True Religion customers will see more collaborations this year, including one with a brand it’s worked with in the past that will launch in November.
“We think women’s can be 50% of the business again like it was in the past,” D’Arcy said, referring to the brand’s heyday in the early ’00s. Men’s apparel currently drives 60% of sales, while women’s makes up 40%.
True Religion is focusing its marketing for the Cheaves collab on a variety of channels. True Religion loyalty program members and those who had signed up to receive the brand’s SMS text updates received early access to shop the collection earlier in the week. On its social channels, the brand encouraged users to sign up for the waitlist to shop the collection. The campaign assets rolled out on True Religion’s social accounts and e-commerce site on Thursday. And Cheaves dropped the link to shop the collection in multiple social posts. The brand is investing in YouTube ads, among other digital ads. Celebrity gifting is also in swing, said D’Arcy.
Along with leaning into influencer collaborations, the brand has a new brand ambassador program, Team True. Introduced in August, it consists of NIL athletes, influencers, WNBA stars and WAGs. Through Team True, True Religion is embracing an always-on social strategy — it’s rolling out a steady stream of brand ambassador content to keep its social channels up-to-date and lively. Past content from ambassadors has focused on tunnel walks, GRWMs, Paris Fashion Week and general lifestyle content.
In 2013, True Religion was acquired by private equity company TowerBrook Capital Partners for $824 million. Since then, the company appointed Michael Buckley as CEO in 2019, Scott McCabe as svp of e-commerce in March 2022 and Sandip Grewal as CFO/COO in July 2022. In 2023, the brand’s sales jumped about 20% to around $280 million. That same year, True Religion recorded $80 million in earnings. Under the new leadership, True Religion plans to cross $500 million in revenue, triple online revenue and achieve 50% e-commerce sales by 2025.
True Religion is best known as a Y2K denim staple known for its stitched jeans featuring rhinestones, enlarged logos and other maximalist designs. The company quickly gained popularity after being spotted on A-listers in music sports, and Hollywood, such as the Black Eyed Peas, Serena and Venus Williams, and Gwen Stefani. Now, similar to other brands of that moment like Von Dutch and Ed Hardy, True Religion is positioning itself for a comeback.
