Made in Heaven jeans revived as MiH brand

Shopper Sarah Macfarland won't say how many pairs of MiH jeans she owns, only that she has nearly every style offered since spring 2011, when she was introduced to the brand.

"I love the fit, styles, variety in colors, and most of all that you can dress them up for evening," said Macfarland. "They hold their shape all day - no bagging out."

MiH jeans (mih-jeans.com) have become a top seller for boutiques and for global juggernauts like Shopbop (shopbop.com).

"The MiH Marrakesh kick-flare jean is a Shopbop favorite," said Shopbop senior buyer Alana Goldsmith Brown. "We have carried it from the beginning, and it never goes out of style. The Shopbop girl also looks to MiH for some of the newer styles, like the Halsy straight leg or Phoebe slouch rise."

The brand, based in Britain (though MiH stands for Made in Heaven), isn't exactly new. MiH founder Chloe Lonsdale is carrying on a family denim legacy.

Her father, Tony Lonsdale, opened Jean Machine stores in Britain in the 1970s, inspired by the denim he saw on a trip to Los Angeles. In the line of duty, he met Chekkie Maskell, a model for the British jeans brand Made in Heaven, founded by Tony O'Gorman and worn by Farrah Fawcett and Jane Birkin. Maskell and Lonsdale married and had a daughter, naming O'Gorman as her godfather.

A quarter-century later, that daughter/goddaughter saw an opening in the market for clean jeans with flattering tailoring. Lonsdale launched MiH Jeans, with a dove stitched on the back pocket, in 2005, and its men's counterpart, Jean Machine, last year.

"It sounds cheesy," an MiH spokeswoman said, "but it's in her genes."

The MiH Bodycon, a high-rise style with no front pockets, is new for fall, promising a slimming silhouette. It comes to Shopbop in December and sold briskly at a summer trunk show at Chicago's Neapolitan, which occasionally picks up a pair of jeans from Alexander McQueen, Gucci, or Stella McCartney, but carries no other full denim line.

For fall, Neapolitan owner Kelly Golden expects to see her clients wearing cropped MiH styles by day with cozy knit sweaters and, for evening, velvet flares with silk blouses.

"MiH has something for everyone," Golden said, "from casual to cocktail."