LOS ANGELES — The ritzy outfits are packaged in your own personal trunk delivered with white-glove service.
There could be a $5,000 cashmere jacket or a $2,000 sweater included in the three head-to-toe ensembles sent your way. Or you could make a special request, like the client in Texas who wanted leather cargo pants.
All this is part of a new high-end clothing subscription service launched by Nicolas Bijan, whose family has a renowned history with luxury clothing. His father was Bijan Pakzad, who founded the House of Bijan in the ’70s and was known for his Tuscan yellow Rodeo Drive storefront frequented by monarchs and presidents from around the world. Pakzad passed away after a stroke in 2011 when his son was still a sophomore at Pepperdine University.
The subscription service, called NB44, is an extension of Nicolas Bijan’s own label, NB44, which includes his initials and the year his father reportedly was born. The subscription service was soft-launched at the beginning of 2023 and has only 44 members, Bijan said. But the by-invitation-only business is expanding beyond its small sartorial club to people that sources said are willing to pay the annual $12,000 subscription fee. That does not go toward clothing purchases.
“This is something that has always been in the forefront of my mind. How do we innovate and how do we offer our beautiful products, our service and experience to the next generation?” Bijan said
Three years ago, Bijan started working on the idea of a new brand that included a younger customer.
The Italian-made clothing label launched nearly a year ago with the subscription service and soon saw half its members were under the age of 40. Catering to this younger customer, Bijan has enlisted up-and-coming athletes as his brand ambassadors: Pasha Goodarzi, a 6-foot-5 freshman basketball player for the San Jose State Spartans, and Carlos Hank Guerreiro, a Mexican equestrian show jumper. Bijan said he wanted to see his brand empower this next generation of luxury clothing clients by employing standout athletes in their field and will continue to do so.
While the NB44 subscription service started with only 44 members, Bijan said some 3,000 people have shown interest in joining and membership will grow. “We are just starting to market our abilities now that we feel we can deliver,” the clothing entrepreneur said. “We feel there is a void in this market and people are interested in learning more about what they can get.”
NB44 presents up to four ready-to-wear collections a year, sending out three complete outfits each time to members, who can opt for fewer collections. “A trunk will arrive with head-to-toe clothing we have put together with their preferences in mind. They can go through the trunk and keep the items they wish or send it back and include feedback on what they want to change. Maybe instead of something in brown they want it in red or navy blue,” Bijan explained. “They have no obligation to buy any of the pieces.”
To apply for the subscription service, interested customers go to the NB44 website and fill out a questionnaire that includes basic questions such as who they are, sizes worn in their favorite brands, clothing preferences, fabric choices as well as favorite colors.
“When we feel we are able to serve more members, we reach out and invite them to join,” Bijan said. “We do welcome the opportunity to meet with them. We can meet in our design studio in Beverly Hills [which is close to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel] and we have had the opportunity to meet with people around the world via Zoom. We get to know who they are because we want them to look their absolute best.”
While Bijan is launching this venture, he still owns 16.6 percent of the House of Bijan, which maintains its presence on Rodeo Drive, although the younger Bijan is not involved in the day-to-day operations. The original House of Bijan was established in 1976 by his father, an Iranian designer and master marketer. He became known for his opulent by-appointment only boutique that sold $12,000 suits and $950 ties. The brand was billed as “the most expensive and exclusive in the world” and was once synonymous with ’80s power dressing, making limited-edition, custom suits and ties worn by George H.W. Bush, Carlos Slim, King Juan Carlos, the Shah of Iran and Michael Jordan.
After Pakzad died, his family and House of Bijan cofounder Dar Mahboubi took over. In 2016, the original House of Bijan store was sold to LVMH Moët Hennessey Louis Vuitton for $122 million. The House of Bijan moved across the street to 443 North Rodeo Drive in what had been a BCBG Max Azria location. The building, owned by Mahboubi, was torn down and a new 8,000-square-foot House of Bijan opened in mid-2020, in the midst of the pandemic.
With its yellow exterior and famous chandelier inside made of 1,000 doughnut-shaped glass flacons, the House of Bijan is still a fixture on the street.
