Label Check is a recurring series where I break down the brands you keep seeing and want to know more about. Paid subscribers got this one first last week (upgrade to never miss out and read my latest story on what happened at Skims over the weekend).
I’m opening a version of Label Check: Ossou up to everyone because you keep asking me about this brand.
In this send: A look at the brand Ossou — who is behind it and why you are seeing it everywhere. Which items to check out. Plus: Fforme, Erede, Hero Shop, Sherri McMullen, ShopMy, Jane Herman, the best seller — the Noon jean, baby barrel, Style Out, citron, and the trunk show I’d attend later this week. Enjoy!
I first went looking for Ossou during September channel checks, and it kept being sold out. I saw it on the designer floor at Bloomingdale’s and in Nordstrom’s expanded Edit section at The Grove. I went to try it on at Hero Shop, and my size was gone. I finally tracked down a pair to try on IRL at McMullen, right as their new delivery came in when Sherri McMullen was hosting Amy Smilovic at her new Maiden Lane store recently.
And it’s not just me. On ShopMy, almost 250 creators have shared the Noon jean and more than 200 have shared the Drift (as of this week). That list includes laura reilly, Jess Graves, Marlien Rentmeester, and denim expert Jane Herman, who all shared the Noon. These influencers try on a lot of products, and when they keep landing on the same jean, that tells you something.
So here’s everything you’d want to know about the brand we all seem to be talking about.
Who is behind Ossou?
Ossou comes from the team behind Fforme. Joey Laurenti is CEO of both brands. Nina Khosla, who grew up in Silicon Valley and studied at Stanford, founded Fforme in 2021 and is now co-creative director of Ossou. She shares the role with Talia Shuvalov, who grew up in Sydney in a fashion family, trained at Alexander McQueen and Parsons, and went on to lead creative direction across ready-to-wear, denim, accessories and jewelry at Alexander Wang. In 2023 she co-founded the fine jewelry brand Erede. (I think the Erede diamond pieces are epic. They feel vintage and new at the same time.)
The idea came from shopping, I mean don’t all the best ideas come from experiencing retail and finding the gaps? Nina and Joey travel a lot together (Fforme is produced in Italy), and they kept noticing the same gap: for a designer customer, denim usually meant one pair of jeans from each brand. Fforme’s jeans sold well at around $1,000. Ossou is the full denim wardrobe (plus more) at a more approachable price. Joey told me he’d been turning the idea over for about a decade before the right pieces came together. The design is all in-house. They don’t employ a denim consultant or expert to handle this business.
When did Ossou launch?
June 2025, online first. Wholesale followed in October 2025, and the brand is now in about 75 stores worldwide. It sits alongside other designers. At McMullen I saw it mixed in with Phoebe Philo, Proenza Schouler, and Heirlome. At Bloomingdale’s 59th Street it was adjacent to Dries Van Noten. At Nordstrom it sits alongside other The Edit brands like Jamie Haller, Lisa Yang, High Sport, and Kallmeyer. Of course placement on the floor is always changing and moving around but this helps get an indication of positioning.
Where is Ossou made?
In Los Angeles, from Japanese denim.
How does Ossou fit?
Here are the four styles to know:
The Noon: the core fit, high-rise and straight. It’s also the most shared, with almost 250 creators linking it on ShopMy.
The Drift: the cropped version of the Noon, shared by more than 200 creators. I’m 5’2” (aka petite), and the Drift hit exactly where it should, even with flats. I took my regular size and the fit was great. If you usually have to hem everything, start here.
Tip: Noon vs. Drift: same fit, but the Drift is cropped.
The Rider: I’d call it a baby barrel. The leg has a slight arc so you aren’t going full horseshoe effect. If you’ve wanted to try a barrel-leg but find most too extreme this is your starter pair.
The Jane: the bi-color jean you’ve seen all over your feed. It patches together indigo with brown shades, and it sells out fast. In my Style Out sends and when I attend actual Style Outs, I refer to styles like this as the “editorial” option. It will be picked up in the press and advertising. It gets your attention. What is interesting about their editorial style is it keeps selling out. Granted I don’t know how many pairs are produced so it could just be tighter inventory, but I also think here shoppers are looking for something interesting and different. Also, if you’re having trouble tracking down your size check out Moda Operandi where they have some available for pre-order.
How much does Ossou cost?
Most of the denim is $395 - $550 with the bulk at the $495 price point. Colored denim costs a little more than indigo because it’s yarn-dyed, which means it fades and wears in the way indigo does.
What makes Ossou different?
It’s in the details, and it’s easy to miss them if you aren’t inspecting up close or trying on in-person:
The jeans are cut using trouser pattern-making and finished cleanly inside, so they still look neat when you cuff them.
The shank button was designed with industrial designer David Caon. It’s two metals with a thumbprint detail, and it feels like jewelry. You almost don’t want to cover it with a belt. I’ve seen this detail in other denim like Khaite’s heritage styles and Rùadh’s denim.
Asymmetrical bar tacks, raindrop rivets and mixed-metal zippers. Yes! Mixed-metal zippers are a thing.
The name comes from the word for bone: the structure underneath everything.
Does Ossou only make denim?
NO! Although this is what I’ve seen shared the most. The brand approaches knitwear the way it approaches denim: as a material to build a whole wardrobe from, not just a sweater for when it’s cold. The knits are natural fibers, and they’re designed to do the job of a jacket or a base layer as much as a sweater. We’ve often seen knitwear brands add denim because they want the bottoms to style with the sweaters. La Ligne did this. Now we can see the opposite, knitwear that helps grow the denim brand. Three styles worth knowing — aka where to start if you want to explore the knitwear:
The Jonas pullover is a fun double-layer look without the bulk. It ties together two colors, or a neutral and an interesting shade like citron.
The Lana cardigan another double-layer style.
The Halo top is a halter-neck and cowl-neck combo. I would consider this your interesting going out top. Not a basic or boring knit piece.
Citron has been showing up a lot in their collection this season. In outerwear too.
Does Ossou make outerwear?
A citron velvet robe style coat where “the coat is the outfit”
The Marrenne Coat is a trench that’s non-traditional but still classic. And another double layer look from the brand. This seems to be a way the brand keeps adding and showing value to the consumer.
Ossou’s take on the barn jacket has a belt to cinch the waist and leather details.
A denim jacket with a curved hem, all the better to show off the back side of the Ossou jeans.
Leather and wovens are coming next…stay tuned.
Where can you buy Ossou:
Online at Ossou, Net-a-Porter, and Moda Operandi. In stores at Bloomingdale’s (and online), Nordstrom’s Edit, McMullen, Hero Shop, Elyse Walker, Jeffrey and Absolutely Fabrics in Toronto.
Try it on this week in NYC:
Erede, Fforme and Ossou are hosting a trunk show this Thursday and Friday, November 12 and 13, by appointment. RSVP to appointments@eredeofficial.com. Denim is a try-on category, so if you’ve been considering Ossou or curious about the brand and fit, this is your chance.
Where to find more insights:
This is the free version. Paid subscribers already read the full merchant read on Ossou in Issue 73. What’s working, how it doesn’t cannibalize Fforme being at a lower price point, and what I’d watch as a merchant as the brand continues to grow. Every week, paid subscribers get a deeper dive with the numbers behind it and merchant takes from my 25 plus years of retail experience. That same issue had my take on the collab between Tecovas x Anine Bing and what brands actually pay for that Allure Best of Beauty badge.
Have you tried Ossou yet? Which styles are your favorites? Tell me in the comments.
Made just for you — always. See you Tuesday.
xx, Sarah Shapiro
Private Label Issue 76
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The detail that stood out to me is cutting jeans with trouser pattern-making and finishing them cleanly inside: that's the part only the person cuffing them ever sees, and usually the first thing cut when a brand chases a lower price. From the footwear side it's the same story, the inside of a shoe tells you more about the maker than the outside. Interesting that leather is coming next; that's where inside-finish discipline gets really expensive.
I did it. I just bought my first pair of their jeans! Wish me luck lol