He added an MBA in information systems and spent four years in finance-related jobs, ending the run at his uncle’s child clothing company in Los Angeles. He was finally in the fashion business, but not the way he wanted.

So in 1992, a broke Shafer parlayed a $7,000 loan from his mother into BC Ethic, a $25 million clothing company built on a foundation of hip shirts he designed. Shafer’s accomplishment, however, didn’t mesh with how he saw himself when he sold BC Ethic in 2000.

“I never considered myself a designer,” he said. “It was the last thing I ever would have said I was. I was a CEO, a founder, an entrepreneur, but in terms of being a designer, that was certainly not it.”

Today, Shafer’s business card identifies the 48-year-old as owner of Agave, a Vancouver-based manufacturer of premium denim clothing. And right next to the owner label a title he finally acknowledges — designer.

Shafer, along with his wife, Lauren Shafer, and Herbert Green, create the line of jeans and tops that has been worn by such Hollywood stars as Bruce Willis and Katherine McPhee and has taken the company from its start in 2002 to $10 million in sales in 2007. Shafer moved Agave from Los Angeles to Vancouver in 2006 to give his two sons a better school atmosphere.

Dressed in Agave’s Gringo Fit jeans and Rambler knit top, he walked through the tiny Main Street office in downtown Vancouver on a recent day, passing sketches tacked to walls and support beams. The cramped space is set to be replaced by the end of 2008 with a 22,000-square-foot warehouse and office in Ridgefield’s business park. It’s a scary investment given the current economic conditions.

“Nobody needs the product I make, certainly at the prices,” Shafer said.

Jean market expansion

Yet there is no question that the market for jeans priced $100 and higher has grown in the past years. The NPD Group, a market research firm, found the jeans market went from $14 billion in sales in 2004 to $15.8 billion in 2006.

The competition for the premium denim has expanded at the same time with Agave vying for retailer shelf space with as many as 15 other designers.

Agave’s jeans start with high-end denim fabric imported from Japan. Manufacturers in Los Angeles, where Shafer maintains offices, tailor the jeans that are sold for $180 to $230. Nordstrom is Agave’s biggest customer, but Shafer said even more important to the company is its network of 450 specialty stores, such as Lily Atelier in Camas and Mario’s in Portland. 

Shafer designs jeans and tops for men and women between the ages of 25 and 45 who want stylish clothing, but nothing too trendy or too stodgy.

Agave look

Agave’s look is a distinct departure from the BC Ethic line, which Shafer created by taking style cues from uniforms worn by gas station attendants and auto repairman.

“It was kitschy,” he said.

And it was popular. Television star Matthew Perry wore the company’s trademark lounge shirt on the popular show “Friends.” Shafer said BC Ethic primarily sold its moderately priced apparel in department stores, a retail venue he eschews for Agave.

The fad faded and by 2000 Shafer sold his interest in the company. He was 40 at the time with an uncertain future.

“I was doing a lot of soul searching,” he said.

The journey led Shafer to Agave, which he funded with his buyout proceeds.

He outsourced just about everything but the design work, turning a profit by Agave’s third year.

“I had to be profitable pretty quickly because there wasn’t a safety net left in my company or personally,” he said.

Shafer expects sales this year to be between $9 million and $12 million, depending on how the economy reacts in the second half of the year. Agave’s status could rise quicker if the right person is caught wearing a pair of Shafer’s jeans.

“The first time that you find out about a major celebrity is wearing your product or, even more so, Oprah’s talking about it or if it’s in In Style magazine, you’ve completely changed who you are as a company,” Shafer said. “That hasn’t happened to us yet, although it is going to happen.”