The Alexandria-headquartered firm, which imports a range of luxury denim brands, was cleared of True Religion stock during an early morning raid on its McEvoy Street warehouse. The theft followed similar incidents in the Alexandria area, with a spate of warehouse robberies in recent months also affecting fashion players such as Gucci.
International Fashion Group (IFG) general manager Jacki Bresic said while July deliveries had not been impacted by the recent theft, the firm was expecting special preference deliveries from True Religion (USA) to replenish stock. Bresic said only a percentage of the stolen goods had been insured.
“We were very fortunate that it happened right on year end when our stock levels were quite low,” she said. “Police are now involved, we have local detectives and a state task force that has been set up to try and trace the stolen items. The task force is responsible for the numerous warehouse robberies that have occurred in the last two months.”
It is understood each pair of True Religion jeans is fitted with a cut number traceable to IFG. Bresic said some denim styles were also made specifically for its territory, allowing police to identify product if it appeared in markets, pop-up stores or online vendors such as eBay.
“I want to send out a warning to all other warehouses in the Alexandria area,” Bresic said. “Have your security set so that someone can be there urgently. Have very specific instructions set up with the alarm company so that as soon as two zones are broken, police must be called. Being that extra bit aware and having the police on guard could have stopped 10 - 20K worth of merchandise from been stolen.”
Bresic urged retailers to contact IFG if they are approached with True Religion stock that is not supplied by the firm. She said IFG has reviewed its security measures since the theft.
“We have the police onside who have assured us that if they are notified, they can be on premises within two minutes. We also have a second security patrol company on board. We were lucky we had the CCTV and appropriate alarms in place. It could have been much worse and we are thankful July orders were not affected.”
IFG fashion brands include True Religion, Paige Premium Denim and Doma Leather.
Assia Benmedjdoub