J Brand carefully cultivates trend of skinny-leg jeans.

WHAT'S the skinny on life after skinny-leg jeans?

J Brand Inc., the tag to have for the tightest of the tight, wants to stick around to see. The slimmed-down denim trend is still humming, but the L.A.-based company is setting itself up for a prolonged stay in the fashion business where labels are as fleeting as Britney Spears' husbands.

"We are in this to build a brand that we can turn over to our children, and they can turn over to their children," said Jeff Rudes, founder, chairman and president of J Brand. "Every move that we make has a vision and an intention."

Even J Brand's skinny-leg popularity has been carefully cultivated. Introduced last year to specialty store Ron Herman, the company launched skinny-leg jeans with 16-inch leg openings. As consumer interest in the vice-like jeans mounted, J Brand satiated demand with skinnier and skinnier pants, eventually coming up with a 10-inch leg opening.

But J Brand didn't bombard stores to rack up revenues as women clamored for the latest duds. Instead, it rolled out styles into the chicest urban stores then slowly moved them into suburban outlets. The company gave the choicest stores exclusives on selected styles to lure customers with the most discriminating tastes.

"We are really strategic. We are moving like we are a blue chip Fortune 500 company," claims Rudes, who has been in the apparel industry for 30 years and did a stint with Abercrombie & Fitch Co. Rudes, stylist Susie Crippen and private label specialist Ken Choi own J Brand, which is projected to pull in $25 million this year.

Controlling distribution has been a key part of the J Brand strategy. Rudes estimates his jeans are in more than 800 stores worldwide. But he said he has turned down at least 100 stores that have asked to sell J Brand. For those stores with J Brand, Rudes has hired merchandise specialists to tailor the available variety and displays to propel sales.

J Brand is positioning itself to be around once women cut skinny-leg jeans from their apparel diet. The company is diversifying its products: men's items will be shipped in September to the U.S. market and sportswear is set for fall next year.