E-commerce will make up half of True Religion’s business by the year’s end

True Religion, which came under new ownership in January, has made digital a priority for the last several years. In 2022, the company announced plans to triple its online revenue, and it also rolled out a new app to better capture mobile sales. By the end of the year, e-commerce will represent “close to 50%” of the business, up from one-third three years ago, D’Arcy said. Still, brick-and-mortar retail has remained important to the brand, which now has some 50 stores. True Religion previously vowed to double sales in its wholesale division in North America from 2023 to 2026.

True Religion, once a staple of the early aughts mall scene, has been reaping the rewards of a comeback. While True Religion struggled to stay popular in the 2010s, it’s benefitted from a renewed interest in Y2K-era brands, and it’s taken the last five years to update its assortment, increase its marketing efforts and pare back its price points. It’s also grown its women’s business, boosted its jewelry offerings and expanded into the pet category. And, since D’Arcy came on board, True Religion has partnered with buzzy influencers and celebrities including Megan Thee Stallion, Saweetie and Chief Keef.

D’Arcy spoke with Modern Retail about wearing multiple hats at True Religion, developing a marketing strategy for the rest of the year and building an influencer program. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Two years in [to your role], how are things going? And what new responsibilities are you taking on now?
“It’s felt like a rocket ship. … [CEO] Michael Buckley is an incredible leader, and his belief in marketing to help drive the business is evidenced in the growth of the marketing budget. When I started, 3% of our sales were dedicated to marketing. Now, it’s upward of 10%, which has been phenomenal.

As of two weeks ago, our e-commerce business is now also under my purview — everything from P&L, to analytics that sit within e-commerce, to customer service that sits within e-commerce, to all of the site merchandisers, etc. What’s exciting about it is that the organization has united all core digital growth functions in one place and under one vision. Previously, I was running marketing, but I was also running growth and retention marketing, which are key growth drivers for the e-commerce business. And now, it all sits in one place.”

What’s your strategy for tackling e-commerce and marketing, all at once?
“Since day one, there have always been three key objectives for marketing. Number one has been to acquire millions of new consumers. Number two is to drive the lifetime value or loyalty of those customers. … Number three is to drive brand heat or brand love [through] our influencer reach, our strategic marketing activations and our corresponding earned media value.

Now, the fourth [piece] with e-commerce is making sure that we are improving the customer’s experience with us digitally, whether that’s in-store, on TrueReligion.com or otherwise. And, within TrueReligion.com, we’re working to increase website conversion in a way that is helpful to visitors. That may be with better outfitting technology, like, ‘If you buy a pair of jeans, here are all the different components that can go with it.’ Underneath that is achieving best-in-class customer service, which really drives number two.

We’re not straying from any of the three [goals]; we’re just adding one to get an end-to-end view of the customer — from when we acquire them to when their package is on the way.”

How does your e-commerce business compare with your brick-and-mortar business?
“We have more than 50 owned retail stores across the U.S., but we look at our e-commerce business as the largest growth engine. About three years ago, e-commerce represented 35% of our total business. By the end of this year, will be close to 50%. That is projected to hit more than 60% of total sales in the next three to four years.”

How are you thinking about marketing for the rest of this year?
“Last week, we launched a men’s collaboration with the [streetwear] brand Cookies. From a digital perspective, we launched a hidden campaign 24 hours prior, and that was to allow our loyalty members to shop early, to build momentum, to get people onto the site and to get feedback on the product. … There is another collaboration coming, this one for women, and that will be primarily online only, but also in one physical brick-and-mortar store in California. Then, as we go into the back half of the year, we’ll have our big holiday campaign, with a new face. That will be really exciting, and there will be lots of digital-first content.

[On the influencer front,] we launched Team True last August. It has been incredible, not only for the brand, but also for sales. We see that there is a 60-80% increase in the number of shoppers adding the product to cart when Team True content is on the product detail page. There are about 100 people enrolled in Team True — everyone from nano-influencers to influencers with 5 million followers. It’s men, women, NFL athletes, fashion stylists, musicians, NBA players, WNBA players and more. What you’ll see going into the back half [of 2025] is a scaling of that program, and you will see unique episodic content, which we’re really excited about. … And we’re advertising, of course, on YouTube and TikTok.”

What are some of your biggest challenges, and what are you doing to address them?
“As we’re scaling, making sure we’re staying true to the brand is a challenge. [For example,] as we’re adding thousands of new people to Team True, how do we make sure that the selection process still feels bespoke and that all of these people understand the brand deeply? That’s a lot easier to do when you have somebody on my team texting one-on-one with one of the creators. Now, we’re trying to do that at scale. That’s where I think technology can really help. Now, maybe there’s some kind of gamification, or there’s a Slack channel where we can get Team True members together to brief them on this season and trends and monthly drops.

Number two is making sure that we get the right talent, at the right time, that appeals to our current and new customers. Megan Thee Stallion is a great example of that. We were looking at different talent options last year, and from a magic perspective, it felt like Megan was the right way to go. … With her Netflix documentary, her hosting [gig] at the VMAs and her performance at Coachella, … we chose the right person at the right time. That is no easy feat, and I think that will always be a challenge, but we have the right team around us.”