WHAT JEANS ARE FOR

All these very stylish people wandering around in double denim and camel coats look very authentic and fashionable, but sometimes there's nothing better than a great pair of jeans, and these look amazing. MiH Jeans 'Roadtrip' style if I'm not very much mistaken. Perfectly lit picture from Garance Dore.

RESIN DENIM

Resin Denim's SS2010 LookBook. I haven't seen this brand around for a while, but I think this has a really strong point of view. It's cool as opposed to feminine, and very Gothic Folk.

Source: Fashion Gone Rogue

CHEAP MONDAY SS2010 LOOKBOOK

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.

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.

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.

CURRENT/ELLIOTT CREATE 'DEADSTOCK'

Current/Elliott are launching a new/sub-brand for Autumn, 'Deadstock'. The idea is that they take inspiration from deadstock denim shapes & fabrics from the 50's, 60's & 70's, but with a slightly more modern fit (those small waists can be a bit challenging for buying real vintage. As with true deadstock jeans, the cuts and denim will be sharper, cleaner and more truly retro. It is 'cleaned up' with a 'preserved feel'. “While Deadstock doesn’t have the same look as the main collection, it has the same supersoft feel.” Elliott explains, “[Real] deadstock is a little stiff and sometimes not as flattering on the body…We cheated a bit.”

The collection features both a women's and men's line made from Japanese denim and comes in three washes, One Wash (dark), Classic (indigo) and True Blue (faded). There will be 10 women's styles (skinny, wide legged & boyfriend), and 6 men's styles. I have seen one piece in Barneys NYC, and it looked good. Given the saturation of Current/Elliot pieces in boutiques, it's a smart way to get even more product into the stores.

Also, prices are a tiny bit lower than the main collection, wholesaling from “$58 for a vest to $90 for a shrunken jean jacket” versus “$72 to $226.” “By nature, Deadstock is less expensive because the washes aren’t as difficult.”

Source: Blackburn & Sweetzer