D-R-G-N Names Ben Taverniti as Creative Director

Peter Kim has turned to a tried-and-true creative for his D-R-G-N brand.

Kim, the founder and former chief executive officer of Hudson Jeans, tapped French fashion designer Ben Taverniti to serve as creative director of his emerging luxury men’s streetwear brand. D-R-G-N is a brand based on the late martial arts actor Bruce Lee and was created in partnership with Bruce Lee Enterprises.

Taverniti worked with Kim in the past as the one-time creative director at Hudson Jeans. After graduating from the ESMOD fashion school in Paris, the designer began his career at Taverniti Couture before joining Jeremy Scott where he served as the head design assistant. In 2004, he relocated to Los Angeles to become the creative director at Hudson. In 2015, he launched Unravel Project, a luxury streetwear brand that blended traditional tailoring with contemporary silhouettes such as inside-out jeans, reverse-zipped bombers and lace-up leather pants that found fans including Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, Rihanna, and Justin Bieber. Earlier this year, he launched the luxury women’s brand Nvl-Garde. Taverniti is headquartered in Milan.

“D-R-G-N is more than a brand — it’s a philosophy,” said Taverniti. “It challenges me to go deeper as a designer, to create pieces that don’t just make a statement about Bruce Lee, or for Bruce Lee fans, but that carry deeper meaning men are seeking in functional, high-quality pieces.”  

“Ben and I have always shared the common belief that fashion is about self-expression, and great fashion authentically reflects the soul,” said Kim. “We’re excited to bring that shared vision to life through a brand as symbolic as D-R-G-N. His ability to merge technical design with emotional depth is unmatched.”

D-R-G-N is intended to honor the legacy of Bruce Lee. Its mission statement is: Always Be Yourself. Have Faith in Yourself. Honestly Express Yourself.

The Los Angeles-born Kim was born into an apparel-industry family. After graduating from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, he rescued his family’s apparel business that was $10 million in debt. In 1999, he founded the men’s streetwear brand Drunknmunky followed by Hudson Jeans in 2002. In 2009, Fireman Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in Hudson Jeans, and four years later, Joe’s Jeans acquired the brand for $97.6 million. Kim remained as CEO until 2018. In 2017, Kim founded Golden Circle Group, a brand accelerator focused on nurturing and building enduring brands, including Faze Clan Apparel, Cloak Brand and Taverniti’s Nvl-Garde.