Innovasion! - Dorinha Jeans Wear

As one of Metro Vancouver’s leading Entrepreneurs, Dorinha has accepted a speaking invitation at InnoVasion – a showcase by and for entrepreneurs, presented by the Vancouver Economic Development Commission. The event is being offered as Metro Vancouver’s contribution to Global Entrepreneurship Week, November 17-23 and will take place from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the Agrodome, in the PNE Fairgrounds (enter by Gate 2 if driving).

Dorinha’s Presentation is on November 18th at 11:15 am and will be followed by a fashion show of her latest styles & denim designs.

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Making a success of designer jeans
Vancouver wholesale company to launch new line

Brian Morton, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Want to succeed at a small business? Get off your duff and take a chance. That's the advice of designer Dorinha Reynolds, whose wholesale company Dorinha Jeans Wear created quite a stir after starting up in 2001. She's now gearing up for a relaunch. "They should just take action without thinking about the risk," Reynolds said in an interview when asked what advice she has for aspiring entrepreneurs. "That's what life is all about. Don't procrastinate. We all have ideas. But if they're kept in the closet, somebody else will bring them out of the closet. "Luck is when hard work meets opportunity." Reynolds -- whose sexy, low-rise, tiny-zippered, stretch-fabric Brazilian-made jeans are sold either online (www.dorinhawear.com), at the company's Vancouver warehouse or at Hangers in West Vancouver and Trends in Kelowna -- wouldn't release her company's most recent sales figures but admits the numbers are down from a peak in 2005, when total retail sales stood at $2.7 million. The Brazilian-born Reynolds, who settled in Vancouver in 1995 (she came to Vancouver to learn English three years earlier), maintains the retail industry has been hit hard over the last two years, but says she was also hurt by stores designing and selling their own brands. As a result, Reynolds and partner Dale Reynolds are working on keeping the brand fresh by launching a new line in 2009. They're also developing new markets. "My best years were 2004 and 2005," said Reynolds. "Last year and the year before sales were down. But the retail economy in general is down because of the international economy. I'm responding by introducing [my products] to new markets. For example, I'm expanding into Europe, Japan and the U.S. In Japan, a lot of girls like my styles. "I'm also launching a new line for upscale older girls, between 25 and 40. They [jeans] are a little bit higher rise and the colour is a little different. Older girls like darker blue, grey, something more elegant. I'm confident it will get sales back up." Reynolds, who was a speaker at Tuesday's InnoVasion -- Inspiring Tomorrow's Entrepreneurs, an event held in Vancouver as part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, also has bikinis, tops, lingerie, bags and belts in her fashion lineup. "But my main product is jeans," she said. "They're nice and sexy and smooth and they don't show a bulge in the front." Reynolds plans to launch her new line at the Magic Trade Show in Las Vegas in mid-February 2009. bmorton@vancouversun.com DORINHA JEANS WEAR - Year company formed: 2001 - Best year so far: 2005 -- $2.7 million in retail sales - Number of employees: four, including the two owners