IMOGENE + WILLIE

There is a lot of talk at the moment about how people shop, have shopped, will shop in the future. I have my own theories, and I won't bore you with them here; suffice to say that I am always right. However, I do think they key thing to remember is that shopping can be an absolute pleasure. Everyone seems to be enjoying denying themselves rather than buying anything at the moment, some kind of consumerist hair shirt, and that is missing the point of what is great about shopping. Going into a shop that has been set up by someone who's clearly harboured the dream of their own store for a long time. Knowing that they've refined it in their imagination for years, and spent effort, time and hope creating it in real life. Additionally, imagine if the shop sells things made on the premises, by the people in the shop. Buying something directly from the people who have conceived it and designed it, made it and washed it, is an utterly perfect way to spend money. Buying from people who love what they do and understand denim is the connoisseurs' way to buy jeans, but it shouldn't be.

How does this one sound:
'My family has been in the denim business for 22 years. I have worked in the family business for what seemingly feels like the whole 2 decades.. My hands and my husband's hands are blue, most all of the days.
My husband and I have started our own label, imogene + willie...and will soon open our store... in a gas station, in Nashville, Tennessee.
We just simply want to sew in the back of the store, a good jean for both men and women, that fits perfectly. We have no intention to wholesale the product. Just would hope that the gas station would become a destination for lovers of good denim and other treasures.'

Jealous yet?

From imogene + willie, not only do you get to buy something from someone's dream, you also get really lovely chambray shirts with vintage buttons and authentic handmade in America denim jeans. And seriously, check out the wash on these...