How an L.A. vintage boutique became a billion-dollar company

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Set us as preferred What started as a little tailored vintage clothing store on La Brea Avenue blossomed into a billion-dollar company.Reformation, the women’s clothing company, is known for its sustainable mission and slogan: “Being naked is the #1 most sustainable option.

We’re #2.” Its clothes have been spotted on the shoulders of celebrities such as Taylor Swift and Hailey Bieber for more than a decade, but it wasn’t until last week that Reformation was listed on the stock market, and with a rise in its share price midday Monday, its market value climbed above $950 million.It has been a stunning rise, starting with management and manufacturing out of Los Angeles and expanding to 70 locations, mainly in the United States, with 13 in California and storefronts in Canada, France and the United Kingdom.

It plans to use the money it raised to open 12 to 14 stores each year.Business SpaceX shares dipped below their IPO price of $135 on Wednesday morning for the first time since listing, signaling dwindling hype around the Elon Musk company.“We’re still really early on in our inning,” Reformation Chief Executive Hali Borenstein said in an interview with CNBC.

“We have less than 1% penetration of our core market, and so you’re going to see a lot more from us.”Still, some consumers and analysts are concerned that growing too much could damage the brand and the quality and sustainability it is known for.“At one point I feel like Reformation was trying to grow too fast, and that’s where they lost sight of quality,” Jessica Ramirez, co-founder of the Consumer Collective, a consumer insights company, said.

“I wouldn’t want that same pressure to come back once they’re public, which is what tends to happen.”The apparel company was founded by Yael Aflalo, a California native, in 2009.It started w...