Tuesday 21 July 2009

THE NEW DENIM









Ha! Who do I think I am? Perhaps to make up for my recent lack of industry I am taking to sweeping pronouncements on the future. The new denim. Well I think it's clear there is a shift from the fit promise of women's premium denim being the only reason to buy a pair of jeans for women (although it's still a pretty strong reason), and more cool, edgy denim claiming back some territory. Or just joining the 'denim wardrobe' to the extent that you now need jeans that make you look slim, and other denim things that make you look cool. It's a combination of edgy finishing, early 1990's styling, and a way of reclaiming jeans from Macys. Not all the above is denim, but I think the shapes, silhouettes and detailing are relevant, and all from Fashion Toast.

Friday 17 July 2009

CHEAP MONDAY SS2010 LOOKBOOK









Thursday 16 July 2009

NEW SUMMER DENIM

Pale, butter soft chambrays. Fresh, light, simple workwear styles, with a hint of the early 1990's.

Garance Dore.

Wednesday 15 July 2009

If you needed a further reason to get behind the cut-off denim jacket. It's a far cry from The Outsiders.
Garance Dore.

Saturday 11 July 2009

STELLA DEGRADE JEANS


Margiela did it first darling, and d.i.y. denim blogs have magicked the look themselves, but if you want an expensive pair, there is something very cool about this degrade wash on jeans. Stella McCartney at net-a-porter.com.

Friday 10 July 2009

GRIPP JEANS




Haven't heard of these folks, but I like it. Their AW campaign has touches of Superfine-ish detailing and early 90's styling. Also, some ubiquitous vampire references, although these are reaching for a slightly more credible 1983 movie, rather than admitting they've read the Twilight books. Apparently:
"A renaissance of ‘gothic chic’ plays a pivotal role in the A/W 2009 Collection for Gripp Jeans. The collection is heavily inspired by the occult vampire movie “The Hunger” (1983), David Bowie’s Berlin Period and the insurgence of synthesized club sounds of Depeche Mode."

NIKITA'S REALITY JEAN


From Nylon.

Thursday 9 July 2009

WHAT SHALL WE DO TODAY, BRAIN

The same thing we do everyday, Pinky. Try to take over the world.

The exciting news is I've got a new job. This isn't facebook, so I'm not going to bore you with the details, but it's back to jeans after my hiatus in trend & development and as such I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to post with such frequency, as I'm going to have to figure out what's stuff to share and what's stuff for me to keep! I'm super excited though as the brand combines premium denim with a vintage vibe and is clearly destined to take over the world.

I guess I'm being a little coy as I'm not sure that I'm going to post who it's with. Is that weird? Anyway, my secret alter ego and I are willing to post some cool photos from the brand's website which cover a little bit of their heritage and are also lovely inspiration for 1970's denim. Look how the models smiled so nicely back then. The last photo is just nice and a current one, so for those of you who recognise the brand, it's no big mystery I'm sure.





Wednesday 8 July 2009

oneculture

Mark, of the fabulous oneculture jeans brand, has been kind enough to send me through his new images that launch his second cut of jeans. Mark has a blog that describes his life trying to build a jeans brand in the capital of denim in the west, San Francisco. As someone who has been involved in the set up of a brand, I cannot begin to describe my admiration for what it takes. Years feel like dog years and your compassion for man disappears in a haze of bitter struggle and pain. It's great, try it.
But that's not it. Although I'm no expert, most brands these days are set up with some serious outside funding. It's very rare you get one person and their idea managing to create cut through, buzz, etc. without either private investment or a deal with a garment company. Not only that, but most jeans brands, especially out of California, are started and owned by the same few people, and they involve designers or stylists to work with them on the conception and front the brand. They make money through economies of scale and business savvy. I don't want to sound cynical, but the money pretty much stays where the money has always stayed. Dude, I can't believe I was about to write 'in the hands of the man'.

Anyway, someone who does it on their own is doing a great thing, and Mark is clearly doing a great thing well. He's interested in telling a different story than the other dry denim brands out there, making something more personal to him. And he has a personal history that is located in 1970's San Franscisco, which is pretty good when it comes to talking about jeans. He's got two cuts of jean (correct me if I'm wrong Mark!), the Pulsar, which he launched with, and his new jean, Hello Again. Each season he takes inspiration from a year to use for his thread colours for that particular production run of jeans, and this year it's 1970. Cue lots of vintage photography of the Bay Area. He uses American selvedge denim from Cone Mills, and for the moment it's just dry. He does a production run when he can, which makes the jeans feel like collector's items to me. I love that he brings a real sense of place and care in construction to denim that's made outside of Japan. The sense of place carries through to where you can get the jeans from, which is one store, with a few branches around SF and one in Chicago, the BLUES Jean Bar. Or I'm sure from Mark himself.



















Tuesday 7 July 2009

CHAMBRAY SHIRTS AT J.CREW














So I had the good fortune of seeing the men's version of this shirt up close when I was in New York last week, and I can attest to it's beauty. It's a selvedge chambray, slightly textured, and totally great. The women's one is online only, which was devastating. But the men's versions seem a touch better; for a start there are two, and one has those vintage Sunset chambray shirt styling details, like the extended collar tab and little triangles inserted at the side seam scoops. I encountered the shirt at the new J.Crew men's store on Broadway, and it's pretty cool. Like a walking version of The Selvedge Yard or A Continuous Lean. Steve McQueen picture books, Mister Freedom Denim Naval Peacoats, Japanese Levi's etc. Indeed ACL has some photos here. Anyway, although what I really want is a decent denim shirt for women, I'd take this chambray one in the short term. Women's shirt on the J.Crew site & Men's shirts on the J.Crew site