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LOIS HISTORY
This is the story of a project that started more than 60 years ago in a small village named Millares, with just 500 inhabitants in the province of Valencia, Spain.
Two young brothers, Joaquin and Manuel Saez Merino - who only had experience of running a small family shop selling food, clothing, fabrics, drinks... and anything that could be sold!! – They started making their own products focusing on work-wear. They started with craft production, the women in the village made trousers, shirts and overalls using machines they had at their homes.
Their means of transport to get their ready made ranges to new cities and audiences was a little donkey that would carry the goods on long walks through the mountains, up to 6 hours, to reach nearby towns. Eventually their goods were sold in Valencia, the capital city of the region in Spain.
As a result of their knowledge of work-wear, they became interested in a model of trousers that had just appeared in Europe, They only had access to this information through magazines they found on their trips to buy fabrics in Barcelona, then the center of the Spanish textile industry.
In the beginning they just wanted to add diversity to their range but soon realized that the same work trousers increasingly appeared in advertisements worn by young Americans, which really struck a cord with them, so they did their best to make some samples. They found the item was not difficult to make but the challenge was to find the correct fabrics in Spain, as it was rare to find among European manufacturers.
Their traditional business was growing but they insisted on crafting what the Americans called “Jeans”. After searching extensively they finally found some denim from a manufacturer of fabrics and started to produce their own Jeans. The first products was not what they expected, so they imported a batch of fabrics from the US. Importing fabrics on a continuous basis was near on impossible at the time, due to the importing restrictions that existed in Spain. So they took a risky step that would be key to their future success: They bought the looms to manufacture their own Denim.
They were eager to innovate and manufacture a product that would be unique to Spain, so they started to develop their own jeans. Initially they worked without branding, their intention was to establish the product in the marketplace, but in 1960 they realized that all international brands had identifying symbols and logos. It was in 1962, when they decided to register the name that would soon bring them success. LOIS was born. What used to be a dream for the brothers was becoming true. The first models with the brand name were developed, although the logo with a bull would only come in 1972. The Lois Jeans was gradually becoming more & more popular, due to their strict product quality control, this still remains today.
After their success in Spain, in the late 60's they began to export. At that time Europe and USA were in the grips of the Hippy Movement. In May 1968 there were protests in France with students rioting in the streets, Jeans become the uniform of all the non-conformist youngsters that wanted to express ideas that were ahead of their time. Flared pants appeared at this time and Lois Gaucho pants became a symbol for these young people.
In 1970 they started marketing the brand in Holland, the first foreign country where the brand was established. They launched the iconic models such as The GAUCHO pants, the RODEO, SANTANA jackets and the RECTO style. They had the cream of Celebrities endorsing their brand such as Abba, James Hunt and Johan Cruyff amongst many.
LOIS was huge in the UK during those times and also had a mass resurgence in the 80’s as the “Football Casuals” trend took to wearing their signature Cords which were matched with other top Italian Sportswear brands, cementing LOIS not only as a fashion brand for mainstream but also as an integral part of the recognized “Terrace Fashion” which is still as strong today.
LOIS is a European brand with European philosophy, it is not like some other Denim brands that base themselves on the Cowboy lifestyle. LOIS is born through young Europeans wanting to express their ideas through a different way of dressing, who were interested in music, art and innovation.
LOIS is still controlled by its founders and from the international Head Quarters in Holland, the brand continues its expansion through Europe, and the rest of the world, reaching more than 50 countries, through subsidiaries or distributors. Two collections are developed each year from Spain, where the brand's design team is still based.
Lois continues to echo their past while still creating innovating and fashionable denim ranges relevant to current trends across the globe and is excited to be relaunching the brand in the UK.