Proper territory for durability

Alicia Robinson

A clothing company based in Santa Barbara is covering new territory

with its first store in Orange County.

The Territory Ahead, which opened earlier this month at South

Coast Plaza, is the second retail venue for the mainly catalog-based

company. If the store’s name evokes the idea of uncharted wilderness,

it’s no accident -- it comes from a passage in “The Adventures of

Huckleberry Finn,” and the store’s line of upscale women’s clothes is

named for British explorer Isabella Bird.

“When we started the company, we started as a men’s-only

business,” said Matt Cooper, co-president of the company who founded

it with partner Mark Carmody in 1989. “Primarily it was to service a

need that we saw was lacking in the market for our own personal use,

and that was something that had an American sense of comfort or

casualness to it, but with a European sense of craftsmanship and

detail.”

Cooper said the clothes are similar to what Eddie Bauer or L.L.

Bean offer -- durable yet casual items such as polo shirts and khaki

pants -- but the Territory Ahead uses natural fibers and adds trims

and other finishing details that some companies neglect to keep

product costs down.

“What makes them unique is the textures,” said JoAnne Chen, one of

the South Coast Plaza store’s assistant managers. “They’re very

durable. It’s comfortable wear, relaxed wear.”

One popular item is men’s shorts in a heavy cotton weave that

customers consider indestructible, but the store also offers less

outdoorsy items such as tweed jackets for men and gauzy sleeveless

tops and dresses for women.

Each season the company picks a different locale as the

inspiration for its clothes. The latest choice was Spain, which

Cooper said shows in the natural colors such as terra cotta and ochre

that are used in the clothes.

The company also tries to create clothes that travel easily, are

weatherproof and resist wrinkling for more active customers.

“A lot our customers have a bit of an explorer spirit,” assistant

manager Jennifer Kneeland said.

And they’ve been exploring the store’s merchandise, she said.

“Customers are thrilled that we’re here,” Kneeland said. “It’s

always nice to be able to see the merchandise in the store so you can

touch and feel the fabric and see how it fits on you.”

The Territory Ahead is in the Crate & Barrel wing of South Coast

Plaza, 3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa.