An American clothing brand founded in Los Angeles in 1994 by James Perse, son of Tommy Perse, who owned the influential LA boutique Maxfield. James got his start in 1991 making the ideal baseball cap for his father's store, which led directly to a 1994 T-shirt line that built a following among film and music industry clients before it existed as a full collection. The design language (what Perse calls "Low Maintenance High Fashion") draws directly from minimalist architecture and interior design: clean lines, neutral tones, and a strong emphasis on the raw material itself rather than embellishment. The brand expanded into womenswear in 1996, menswear in 1998, and now runs more than 50 stores worldwide.