Denim is constantly gaining popularity and the old workwear pants have truly becoming big business. But not everybody is in it for the fame or the glory, to some hardcore denim hunters it’s still solely about passion and fascination. Meet one such guy, 22-year-old Chris Skitch from the Blue Gold Blues.
Ernie, neighbour of the photographer, with his brand new Chevy Impala in 1963.
The Danish market for high-end denim is made up of a small community of enthusiasts who often speak an incomprehensible language and dwells with the small and seemly insignificant details about the products. A fact that is reflected in the number of shops that specialises in this niche. There’s nothing wrong about that: Denmark is a small country and the buying criteria of most customers has for years been focused around parameters such as price and brand rather than quality and craftsmanship. But this behaviour is currently changing. While we wait the abundant possibilities online in the virtual denim universe must do. This is a selection of some of the best.
Old photo by Jonas Bang
Recently my best friend, photographer Jonas Bang, had a pretty big task on his hand. He had applied for The Danish School of Media and Journalism in Copenhagen for a line called Photographic Communication. To enter the school the applicants had to do an assignment where they had to take three pictures under the title “Passion”. Mr. Bang wanted the theme to be denim and he had a great and crazy idea. But since he owns what only seems to be 5 pieces of clothing he had to borrow all of my denim – jeans, shirts and jackets. When he returned it all he told me that everybody involved in the photo shoot, himself included, just couldn’t get their heads around how much denim I have. “Why do you have so much?”, and “where do you have it from?” they asked. My friends seemed to see me as a denim guru of which I am humbled, but they still couldn’t grasp that one can own that many jeans.
On Friday the 11th of May Levi’s opened their new flagship store on one of the most prestigious and expensive locations in the world, the prominent Champs Élysées in the heart of Paris. It’s the second largest Levi’s store in Europe (only surpassed by the Regent Street flagship store in London), and it covers more than 650 square meters of shopping area divided on three floors. The objective is to bring to life the unique heritage of the Levi’s brand and to engage consumers, both locals and visitors to Paris. I haven’t yet visited it myself, but Levi’s sent me these pictures and I definitely thought they were worth sharing.
Steve McQueen on his Triumph wearing Red Wing boots (probably the 877).
As I’ve written in the article about the history of Lee, the innovative company was the first jeans manufacturer to introduce a slim-fitting denim jacket in 1931. It is known as the 101J. In 1933 they introduced the Storm Rider, which has become one of the most iconic denim jackets out there. This article, however, focuses on the 1946 Rider jacket. It features key design elements like two front pockets (that are slanted for easy access), zig zag reinforcement running along the button holes, plastic buttons as waistband adjustment, and under collar stitching to make it stand up. That is setting a lot of standards.
The late Paul Newman on a tricycle drinking a 7-Up wearing jeans with considerable cuffs.
Measuring by the number of readings that the wear & tear project-article has had already, it seems I’m not the only one who’s interested in how the Levi’s Vintage Clothing dry 501 jeans shrinks and wears. But as you may remember I headhunted four other guys to help me carry out the project, and here’s an introduction to one of those guys, Jan Ø. Jørgensen who’s wearing the 1954 501ZXX.
Young cowboys at Austin Livestock Show, Austin, Texas, 1954
I’d like to do a little advertising for The Castle Run bike show that will be held on May 12th (tomorrow) in the beautiful settings of Krenkerup Castle. The event is hosted by Krenkerup Brewery and Customs From Jamesville. The event is about the love for vintage and custom bikes, but everyone with a passion for fine beer, motorcycles, and a relaxed atmosphere is welcome.
The gates to the castle will open at 10am Saturday and will close 10am Sunday. Some of the activities during the day will include an all day bike exhibit with prizes given out at 4pm. Various venders selling MC merchandise, local pinstripers and bike builders displays. A ride out at 2pm, a gourmet dinner served at 6pm. The DJ will be playing classic rock until late and refreshing beer sold all day. Read more here.
It’s been a couple of weeks since we co-hosted the event in Illum, but we still have a little unfinished business relating to it. Going through all the answers in our competition we found a winner of the Canadian Suit from G-Star RAW. His name is Jonas Asp and he’s from Copenhagen. Congratulations to Jonas and thank you to all who participated.
This is Ardin van Syckle, member of the infamous 13 Rebels Motorcycle Club from which inspiration to “The Wild One” is freely drawn. Read more here.
Remember A/B P-I Hagberg & Co that was featured in the fall here on Denimhunters? Well, back then they only delivered half of the collection (one of two styles), but now the second half has arrived. Quite a heavy load!
One of the shopping related highlights of my visit in Amsterdam back in April was Tenue de Nîmes where I had a chat with co-owner Rene Strolenberg. The shop is beyond compare the best denim shop in the city and I actually visited it nothing less than three times during the weekend I spent there. I just had to get back to have another look. But the greatest feature of the shop is actually not all the premium denim brands themselves, it’s how they’re mixed in with each other. You have high-end classic Momotaro jeans right next to fashionable skinny Acne jeans. And with every visit you discover something new.
Striped tees, high waisted blue jeans and chucks, this photos could just as well have been taken today as 50 years ago.
Hauling crates of peaches from the orchard to the shipping shed. Delta County, Colorado, September 1940. Photo by Russell Lee. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
This is the third and final chapter in the story about Timmy Persson and his homemade jeans. Last time he got as far as having done the back piece and the pockets on the front piece. But before attaching those together Timmy had to put the fly on to the front piece. All of that and more below, but before we get all technical let us introduce the person with the needle and thread in his hands.
Do we still need guidance from insightful shoe experts? The answer is definitely. One place to find such experts is in the Shoe Chapter; a small basement shop in the heart of Aarhus. The shop was opened in February 2011 by Mark Sommerlund who had among others previously worked for Pede & Stoffer. But like so many others in the business Mark wanted to have something of his own and felt that he needed to put all his attention into footwear and shoes.
Summing up the “Explore the Wonders and Mysteries of Denim“-event in Illum the weekend of the 26th-28th of April can be done in one word: experience; and it seemed we really created some attention about it all. But this was only the beginning. Throughout the rest of 2012 Denimhunters and Samsøe & Samsøe will be hosting more events in the 3rd floor jeans shop, which will eventually lead up to a huge celebration of denim and the good life!
Children gathering potatoes on a large farm in Aroostook County, Maine, October 1940. Photo by Jack Delano.
Which size should I choose? How much will they shrink? What’s the difference between the 1947 and the 1966? And when should I wash? These are just a few of the often unanswered questions frequently asked by customers interested in the dry (shrink-to-fit) jeans from Levi’s Vintage Clothing. But how is a wear & tear project going to make any difference? Helping our readers find the perfect pair of jeans is one of Denimhunters’ main objectives and with the help of five denim heads who’ll each wear in a different fit we will hopefully become able to answer any possible question about the exclusive top-of-the-line denim collection. At least for the 5 fits included in the project.
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