Broughton Quarterly - Spring 2009 - (Page 35) PHOTO BY MICHAEL ROBINSON CHAVEz Around that time, Montesano had an epiphany: What if I make jeans for the opposite gender and sell them at twice the price? Naysayers, of course, took their place in line. But Gene saw an open market for good-quality, stylish men’s jeans. He brought Barry out to the West Coast, and in 1990 Lucky Brand Jeans was up and running out of a factory in Vernon, an industrial hub of South L.A. But it wasn’t just the exclusive selling of pricey jeans to American men that was revolutionary and against all practical advice. Montesano also began his own line of Lucky Brand retail shops, starting with the first store on La Brea Avenue in 1991.“My idea was always to be retail,” he said. He did distribute Lucky Jeans elsewhere, but only to specialty shops and high-end department stores like Nordstrom.“We think the more of it that’s out there,” Montesano would later tell the L.A. Times,“the less people want it.” He refused to model his brand on marketproven European stylings, instead choosing a Jack Daniels-esque label and nationalistic slogans such as “Too Tough to Die.” He infused a sense of spirituality by putting fortunes in the pockets and, with a nod to the folks opening the clothes, packaged the jeans in special white boxes decorated with clovers.“The more of that stuff you do, the better your karma,” he explained. And most controversially, he placed a label on the inside of the zipper fly that said,“Lucky You.” It should have said “Lucky Gene,” because the brand was an immediate hit with men—and boys—of all ages. BEYOND BLUE JEANS he seeds of Lucky Gene were planted in Miami and prosperously sprouted in Los Angeles, but it’s Santa Barbara where the Montesano legacy is truly flowering. He first visited the so-called American Riviera in 1992, enjoying a weekend getaway with his former wife. Life in the Hollywood Hills had become overbearing, and by buying a home T in the tony community of Montecito, he could still commute to Vernon when necessary but better enjoy the family life he cherished. But it proved to be more instructive than that. “In L.A., I was the big guy. When I came here, it was humbling,” said Montesano, referring to the old families, luxurious estates, and generations of wealth that exist quietly in Montecito.“I didn’t know anybody, but I started meeting some really nice people—no one was climbing.” Among other community-minded moves, he began funding the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which 15 years later has grown to be one of the country’s most critically acclaimed and star-studded cinematic affairs. But his biggest contribution to daily life in Santa Barbara is certainly his wide range of tremendously popular restaurants. A year after moving there, he lured a chef away from one of his favorite Italian bistros and, in 1995, opened the still successful Bucatini in the heart of downtown. Two years later was Ca Dario—a favorite to this day for many a local—which he left to a business partner. And then came the full-course press: Lucky’s, an upscale steakhouse on Coast Village Road in Montecito; D’Angelo Bakery, for which he hired the head of baking at Napa’s culinary institute; Tre Lune, another chic Italian bistro on Coast Village Road; Joe’s Café, a longtime legend on State Street known for cheap eats and strong drinks; and, in 2008, after four years of remodeling, Café Luck, a Manhattan-esque French bistro on Cota Street’s restaurant row. Running restaurants is a notoriously fickle enterprise, but Montesano denies that this is some money-losing hobby, explaining,“Mostly, they pay for themselves.” He does admit, however, that they are a way of showing his appreciation for his neighbors.“It’s for me and for the community,” he said.“I like to take a box that’s for lease and turn it into a place where people go for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” broughtonQuarterly.com 35 http://www.BroughtonQuarterly.com
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