Tummy Tuck denim line expecting continued expansion: Not Your Daughters Jeans plans to grow 50 percent in 2007.

WHILE dozens of Los Angeles denim designers were making money selling skinny jeans to women sized eight and under, Lisa Rudes Sandel quietly devised a way to dress the rest of the country.

Rudes Sandel and her sister Leslie started making Not Your Daughter's Jeans, or NYDJ, in 2003. They even drafted their father out of retirement in Boca Raton. George Rudes was behind St. Germain jeans, a popular brand in the 1970s and 1980s.

Denim is a family affair for the Rudes family. Rudes Sandel's cousin, Jeff, is president of J Brand jeans, a high-end company that pioneered the skinny-leg look.

NYDJ's selling point is a cross-stitched inner panel on the front of the jeans that has a tummy-tucking effect. The company claims that the cut, also designed to lift the gluteus, allows customers to wear one size smaller.

In 2005, SLL Inc., the parent of NYDJ, shipped 100,000 jeans and grossed $5 million. The jeans were a big hit at Nordstrom Inc. stores, and became the bestseller on the company Web site. But things really took off in 2006, when SLL shipped 920,000 jeans and grossed $40 million. George Rudes expects the company to grow another 50 percent in 2007.

The jeans are now sold in all Nordstrom stores, Dillard's, Lord & Taylor, Macy's and over 1,200 specialty stores.

"There's no one else doing this tummy tuck," said Kellie Kefalas, denim market analyst at Directives West, a retail consulting group. "It does what it says it does, flattens the stomach and lifts the butt a bit."

Kefalas said the jeans are ideal for "hip moms" that can't quite fit into a size 6 anymore, but added that her mother is also a "No. 1 fan."

"I feel this line has grown as fast as it has because we are providing a product that has something that a woman wants and needs," said Rudes Sandel. "We are targeting a category of women that have been neglected by fashion designers."

The company, which started in a 10,000-square-foot office and warehouse with six employees, has moved into a 38,000-square-foot location to accommodate growth. The company now has 65 employees, but outside factories and laundries employ an additional 200 people.