CALMAR
Brands
AGOLDE
Heritage Streetwear

AGOLDE

Founded
2014
Founder
Adam Goldenberg
AGOLDE was founded in 2014 in Los Angeles by Adam Goldenberg, a co-founder of the e-commerce conglomerate TechStyle. The brand emerged from Goldenberg's frustration that premium denim — which Los Angeles had pioneered through brands like Citizens of Humanity and 7 For All Mankind — had become predictable and commercially formulaic. AGOLDE was conceived to take a Tokyo-craft-influenced approach to vintage denim, hand-finished and small-batch. The AGOLDE vocabulary settled around oversized vintage-cut denim silhouettes — the Riley, the Pinch Waist, the 90s — produced in Los Angeles using vintage shuttle looms and hand-wash treatments that replicate decades-aged finishes. The brand's reissue of 1990s American denim cuts at a contemporary price point has positioned it precisely between vintage purists and the streetwear-adjacent customer who wants worn-in fits without sourcing actual vintage. AGOLDE is owned by Citizens of Humanity Group (the same parent company that owns Citizens of Humanity, Goldsign, and Madewell denim production). Production is largely in Los Angeles, with washing and finishing at the brand's own facility. The brand operates a single flagship at the Citizens of Humanity store on La Brea Avenue plus extensive wholesale through Net-a-Porter, SSENSE, and others. Few denim brands of the past decade have so completely defined the 'elevated vintage' tier of contemporary American denim.

Where to Buy 1

Retailer list compiled from public information; actual availability may vary.

Timeline4

  1. 1988

    Adriano Goldschmied launches original AGOLDE

    Italian denim pioneer Adriano Goldschmied launched the AGOLDE name; in this first incarnation the brand explored vintage-inspired American denim.

  2. 2014

    Relaunched under Citizens of Humanity

    Citizens of Humanity revived AGOLDE under designer Karen Maleh, repositioning it as a Los Angeles-based vintage-inspired denim and apparel label.

  3. 2018

    Riley jean becomes a cult hit

    The Riley high-rise straight crop jean became a cult fashion-editor favourite, defining the new AGOLDE silhouette.

  4. 2021

    Sustainability commitments scaled

    AGOLDE scaled its use of recycled cotton and water-saving wash technologies across its denim core, advancing sustainability commitments.

Related Brands6