Lifted Research Group, commonly known as LRG, is an American clothing brand headed by Jonas Bevacqua and Robert Wright and based in

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

. LRG produces clothing and accessories and also has been known to develop a broad range of products consisting of electronic accessories, extreme vehicles, and outdoor equipment including sporting goods and more. The company is also involved in the promotion of underground recording artists and sponsors a

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport that involves riding and Skateboarding trick, performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a method of tr ...

team. ''

Entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

'' magazine ranked the company at #5 on its 2007 Hot 500 list of fastest-growing companies.

History

Lifted Research Group was founded in 1999 by Jonas Bevacqua and Robert Wright. Wright brought extensive experience in the

streetwear Streetwear is a style of casual clothing which became global in the 1990s. It grew from New York hip hop fashion and Californian surf culture to encompass elements of sportswear, punk fashion, punk, Skateboarding#Culture, skateboarding, 1980s no ...

industry to LRG, having worked with such companies as

Quiksilver Quiksilver is a brand of surf-inspired apparel and accessories that was founded in 1969 in Torquay, Victoria, but is now based in Huntington Beach, California. It is one of the world's largest brands of surfwear and boardsport-related equip ...

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, and Katin during eight years. He also contributed the resources to create the company's initial samples and patterns. Bevacqua also raised the initial start-up capital from friends of his adopted father, who worked in the fashion industry. This capital was used to finance an initial product run that sold out on their first day at the Action Sports Retailer Expo in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. The company made its first $1 million in 2000, and the company became profitable by 2002. In late 2005, LRG announced their new women's clothing line named Luxirie, which targets women aged 18 to 30 years old. Designs from the label cover six themes, ranging from Western to military, and include signature items such as crystal-covered jeans. The label launched in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in the fall of 2006. LRG has since launched its products in other countries, as well as hosting an international skate team. Rider Marek Zaprazny has been a star in their international team. In the fall of 2006, wireless provider

T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand of telecommunications by Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telec ...

launched a limited edition Sidekick III designed by LRG. It featured a green-on-green theme that made liberal use of LRG's logo. After a production run of 10,000 units, T-Mobile's website reported that it was sold out. On May 31, 2011, Jonas Bevacqua was found dead of natural causes, aged 33. LRG began to renew its designs by hiring Nick Bower in 2017. In 2018, LRG collaborated with artists Jon Z, Chip The Ripper, Rvssian and Jhay Cortez among others. In 2019, LRG partnered with Apple Music as an official playlist curator.

References

{{Reflist

External links

LRG Clothing BlogLRG Online Store
Clothing brands of the United States Clothing companies established in 1999 Hip-hop fashion 1999 establishments in California 1990s fashion 2000s fashion 1999 establishments in the United States Companies established in 1999