FASHION Magazine

By Anne O'Hagan

This is a true birth story, but don’t worry—not a cringe-y one. It’s the story of a pant named Jaidan, from its earliest glimmerings as a mere abstract thought to its debut strut down the retail runway of your life. And the birth itself? Let’s call it “natural,” although not by conventional (i.e., made in China) fashion industry standards. Conceived on a summer night over drinks at the Hôtel Costes just off the Place Vendôme, this pant was born and bred in a bureau de style in Paris, its genetic code engineered in Toronto and its pedigree tested in the crucible of the Fashion Coterie trade show in New York. Fabricated in Prato, outside Florence, in luxe Italian-made fabrics, Jaidan was returned to Paris to work out the kinks of fit and grading, then back to Italy for its final stages of gestation and eventually home to Toronto for delivery. Surprised? Don’t be. Jaidan’s father, Arie Assaraf, is a precise man indeed.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2005

In a sleek glass and chrome showroom in midtown Toronto, Assaraf (the founder of the city’s TNT boutiques) and his flock of assistants twitter around a vast table piled high with bolts of fabrics. A fashion retailer known for his passion, Assaraf is developing a new line of pants that he believes will “fill the void.”

“Every retailer knows there’s a void,” he explains. There’s Teenflo, Theory and Joie, and there will always be denim, he says, but what about the stylish, sophisticated pant—beautifully detailed, whether casual or luxe—that fits and is more affordable? What about the pant that looks as good in size 8 or 10 as it does in size 2?

In contrast to the constantly swooping and darting assistants, Corinne Biganzoli, Assaraf’s business partner on the Jaidan line and a close friend of many years, sits Zen-like, making occasional quiet asides to the maestro in French. We rifle through a sea of traditional English fabrics made in Italy—swatches of plaids, polyviscose, cotton and lightweight wool. In the presence of this cool, calm, bone-thin blonde with sad eyes and unfussy killer style, I feel distinctly that we’ve got something good to look forward to.

OCTOBER 15, 2005

A month later, in a whitewashed showroom in the grim industrial suburbs of Toronto, Assaraf’s executive assistant, Karen, doubles as a fit model. She gamely trots around wearing one swoony Jaidan sample after another: thick, bright white cotton; polyviscose, tropical wool and plaids, some shot with Lurex, in a kaleidoscopic palette (pink, mauve, green, grey); lightweight silk-wool blends; a chevron pattern with a sheen; a pleated city short; and a cropped pant with a narrow leg in the lightest of tropical wools. Sophisticated, subdued and hip, the cropped Jaidan is Balenciaga-inspired, Chloé-esque and, according to Assaraf, “very directional.”

Next, all the samples are shipped to Paris, to Biganzoli’s bureau de style for analysis of the fit before going into production. In the end, they choose 27 fabrics for 12 styles (all with women’s names, such as Audrey and Jasmin), and the silhouettes cover all imaginable lengths: true shorts, Bermudas, narrow cropped pants, capris, wide, long and extra-long, and jodhpurs. And not to forget the cigarette—the cut of the moment. Above all, though, it’s in the details with Jaidan: Double waistbands and novelty buttons are just some of the fun.

DECEMBER 7, 2005

In mid-December, I check in with Biganzoli. She’s working at her atelier in the 17th arrondissement on a classic grey Paris day. “Assez triste comme ambience,” she says, describing the weather in the way that only the French can. Her analysis is ongoing, and there are always small problems to correct. Their grading was off, and they needed to “validate” certain sizes: Prospective American buyers found the bigger sizes ran a bit too big. Over the next few months, she will go to Florence biweekly. “It takes time to get a rhythm going with a new manufacturer,” she says, “and we want Jaidan to be impeccable.”

It’s a tall order: impeccable, couture-like detail with sizing for the masses; modern cuts using traditional English-style fabrics; flattering but not just for the “lucky” ones. Yes, Jaidan is ambitious. “We need to offer something distinct from H&M, Zara and Banana Republic,” Biganzoli says. And gauging by the street look in Paris last winter—cigarette jeans with flats or heels but always tucked into boots, and Bermudas worn with tights and boots, long skinny scarves and big bags—Jaidan will hit the mark.

MARCH 18, 2006

Birds, bees and rising temperatures—but what is spring if not spring clothes? The first pieces of the Jaidan collection for Spring 2006 have surfaced at TNT Woman, and I’ve wrangled a friend into a pair of black pleated city shorts in lightweight wool, exposing her impossibly long lily legs to the mid-March chill. She’s got it figured out: She’d wear them with a sequined white tank, fishnets and heels, or with a crisp white shirt and a funky cravat. TNT Woman’s Domenic Mazzagatti says the tailored, flat-front Bermudas, available in tropical wool or white cotton, are already selling at a fair clip to women going south (in some circles, that’s called “cruise wear”). For day, you wear them with a tee, or in the evening with a cropped blazer and chunky beads. It’s the new skirt—clean and hip.

APRIL 1, 2006

With a pair of slim, bright white Jaidan Bermudas beckoning—it’s so Tender Is the Night yet so modern and sexy—I pray for the real summer to arrive, and I send cigars to Assaraf (in my mind), congratulating him on the safe arrival of his charming and well-proportioned new offspring. Or is champagne more appropriate? Cigars, champagne, cigars, champagne—whatever the case may be—cheers, Jaidan.

Jaidan is available at TNT Woman (87 Avenue Rd., Toronto, 416-975-1810; 388 Eglinton Ave. W., Toronto, 416-488-8210; tntthenewtrend.com), and Holt Renfrew across Canada.

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