This morning we took a better look at the Carhartt Work In Progress Lookbook for Fall/Winter 2012. The Carhartt brand has been making a strong comeback in recent years through heritage menswear trends and strong collaborations.

Founded in 1994, Work in Progress began running distribution for Carhartt goods in Europe and gradually began to introduce classic products from the original workwear range to a new market.  In the few years that followed, their success made it possible for Carhartt and Work in Progress to present their first Carhartt range produced for and available exclusively in Europe. This first collection included the original workwear cuts re-interpreted and re-fitted for the demands of an urban environment but true to the Carhartt brand’s core values: outstanding design combined with exceptional quality, durability and comfort.

Fall/Winter 2012 sees colors, patterns and fabrics we’ve seen before in the heritage collections, now included in the Carhartt WIP mainline. Strong outerwear and patterned shirting is thrown into the mix with classic Carhartt pieces to make a well balanced collection at good price points.  The collection will be available at Denim Geek in the next few months.

Edwin’s Fall/Winter 2012 Collection is defined by its focus on freedom, where a sense of shared isolation among the wilds of the world creates the foundation for a heightened sense of kinship. This band of brothers & sisters ride, side by side, in a relentless pursuit of adventure. The cloth that surrounds them becomes the rivets that bond their lives to the memories they create, their clothing an ever evolving recollection of time. Classic blocks provide a testament to quality and durability and fabric is cut and constructed with longevity in mind, respecting the traditions of strength and rugged resilience.

The denim is a blend of premium Japanese and European fabrics, many of which are exclusively developed by Edwin, and wear-patterns are based on natural washes painstakingly re-created. Black denim has been densely over-dyed into colours to create deep, muted olive, dusty burgundy and ashy okra tones that are then re-washed to allow the fabrics natural character to subtly emerge beneath the oaky winter colour pallet.

Edwin’s unique Rainbow selvage takes pride of place om the collection with the ’63 Rainbow selvage’ providing the focus for a series of exclusively developed Japanese fabrics that include red listed selvage, granite & blanket denim. Quartz & Dark blue shuttle denim is presented across a plethora of washes and cuts, and is hand-finished at Tunisian and Italian laundries.

As far as clothing goes, heavy-duty 500g jersey jackets and sweaters sit alongside linen and 100% irregular slub cotton tee shirts. Shirting fabrics are exclusively developed for Edwin Europe in France by a mill specialising in the very best quality cotton. These shirts are presented in herringbone checks, horizontal oxford stripes, twisted yarn indigo and light grey ‘wool feel’ fine melange fabrics.

Jackets are constructed using tightly spun, heavy weight armoured twills, printed canvas camouflage and leather are heavily quilted and blanket lined pieces that create light-weight yet heavy duty outerwear. Specially designed removable ‘Shank’ buttons are utilised on many of the heavier outerwear pieces, intended to prevent damage during hand washing. The Edwin Fall/Winter 2012 collection provides a covenant between style and durability.

The Edwin Spring/Summer 2012 collection is available in the Denim Geek store.

“The Buried Denim Project is a collaborative project between The Broken Teeth & Samuel Bradley Photography which documents the process of burial in March 2012 and excavation in June 2012 to show the natural ageing process of denim.”

Follow the project on Facebook.

We’re looking forward to seeing the exhumed denim in a couple of months.

Source: Indigo Curious

When you first buy a pair of raw A.P.C jeans, they will be ridiculously stiff. Rest assured though, they will soften up in under 30 wears (around 2 weeks if you wear them every day). This doesn’t mean that they will wear down and become flimsy, it means that the jeans will adhere to your body and your lifestyle and become more comfortable the more you wear them. A.P.C’s selvedge denim is a tough fabric and the only real way to rip or damage them heavily is to do splits or stretch the fabric too much.

One of the main things you want to get right when buying any pair of jeans is the sizing. With APC many people will recommend that you size down from the tagged size as the jeans are cut usually a size or two bigger than what they are tagged. This is known as vanity sizing as the denim will stretch considerably from the tagged size when worn.

Usually with APC jeans, people size down 1-2 sizes from their actual waist size. If you have a 32” waist, we would recommend trying on a 31 for a classic fit or a 30 for a more narrow fit. Jeans up to size 30 tend to have an inseam of 32-34″ and larger sizes 34-36″.

Let’s take a look at the four main fits that A.P.C produce in their raw denim; New Standard, Petit Standard, New Cure and Rescue.

NEW STANDARD

The New Standard is essentially the brand’s most ‘standard’ jean and fits regularly in both the rise and the waist. The jean has a straight leg and tapers only slightly from the knee to hem. Normally, wearers like to size down between 1-3 sizes on these. They are a straight leg cut, with wider leg openings and a very regular profile. The jeans still taper slightly and are quite slimming, but less so than the New Cure or Petit Standard.

The more you size down, the slimmer the leg will be from the knee down. The New Standard can be worn baggy or tight, depending on which size you go for.  The sizing on the black New Standards is a little different due to the denim being affected by a different dye, but this does not affect the overall sizing of the jean. The raw black do fit a little tighter due to the nature of the dye, but because they are APC the stretching property of the denim remains the same and the jeans will still stretch and confirm to your body.  Bear in mind that these jeans will shrink a little if you decide to soak them.

PETIT STANDARD

The Petit Standard is one of the newer fits from APC and is essentially a middle ground combination of the New Standard and the New Cure. Over recent years it has become one of the most popular fits. It’s best to think of the Petit Standard as a slimmer version of the New Standard with a lower rise. It is now available in Raw Black denim.

NEW CURE

Out of the four main cuts, the New Cure is the skinniest jean of the group with a low rise and no visible selvedge line. The New Cure tapers all the way down from the thigh to the hem, resulting in a much more narrow silhouette. This should be perfect fit for you if you’re looking for an exceptional quality skinny jean. Most people choose to size down 1-2 on these but like other APC jeans, they do stretch considerably after a couple weeks of wear. The New Cure is an updated version of the original Cure jean, which seems now to be the women’s version of the New Cure.

RESCUE

The Rescue is APC’s full cut jean and is cut with a very true straight leg and a full rise. While being a looser, more roomy jean the Rescue still boasts a clean, contemporary APC silhouette.  All in all, this is a fuller, straighter and more utilitarian cut. The thigh is considerably wider than the New Standard and from the knee down the cut tapers minimally. This is usually the cut of choice for people with wider legs as it is cut fuller. Many people size down 1-2 from the tagged size to achieve a comfortable fit.

FABRIC

APC’s indigo jeans are made from selvage denim fabric, which is a strong, high quality denim made on an old-style shuttle loom. You can see if a pair of jeans are made from selvedge fabric by turning up the cuff and looking for the selvedge edges where the fabric meets. The only exception with the selvage line is in the New Cure cut. The jeans are made out of the same selvage denim as the other jeans, but the jean is so narrow at the hem that APC were unable to show the selvage line.

CARE

Getting a pair of APC’s to fit perfectly can be a tricky business. However, the best way to fade and crease the jeans to your body is to WEAR THEM! Most people recommend not washing them for at least 6 months so that the fabric has time to set in and mold to you. This means that when it comes to washing, the fades and wear will giev you a more personal look. The best thing about raw denim though is that there aren’t really any rules. There’s nothing stopping you throwing them in the wash first so they wear softer. You should always wash raw jeans by themselves so the indigo does not bleed onto your other clothing.

Whenever you decide to soak your APCs, it is generally best to soak them for 2 hours in hot water. After two hours, take them out, pat out the excess water and hang dry. If you’d like to stretch them a little, wear them dry.  Wearing your jeans dry is also the most effective way to stretch them out if you think they may have shrunk a little too much.

If you do decide to wear your new APCs for two years without washing them, they can start to smell a little. There are a few methods you can try to combat any odours!  Firstly, soaking. Don’t be afraid to soak your jeans using them method above. The denim should fade faster after a soak and the jeans will smell less. If you’re totally against your jeans touching any water, try a fabric deodorant such as Febreeze. It isn’t harmful to your jeans and is quite a quick fix.

Be sure to check out what’s in stock over on the APC store page. If you have any questions about APC denim sizing or care be sure to give us a shout on info@denimgeek.com.

Our friends at Edwin sent us this handy fit guide this week, which gives a good insight into the fits in their premium five pocket denim collection. All stated measurements are based on a 32/32” sized pant and are graded up and down the scale accordingly.

Selvedge jeans are offered as standard in a longer measurement of 86.5cm, which allows the jeans to be cuffed in order to show the selvage finish without reducing the intended length.  This is also of benefit when re-tailoring the pant to fit the intended leg as lengths can be shortened without interfering with the cut of the jean. All non-selvedge denim measures 81.5 cm in the leg.

The ED-47 is the only exception to the rule as traditionally this style has always been cut with an 81.5 cm leg length for both selvage and non selvedge denims.

If you have any queries about fits, be sure to give us a shout on info@denimgeek.com.

> Shop Edwin Jeans at Denim Geek

Still Good is a young fashion brand by Clément Taverniti. Hailing from Paris, the label was launched in 2010 with an award-winning range of t-shirts. Fast forward to 2012 and the label has expanded into a larger, diverse collection.

Creator Clément Taverniti grew up in fashion, watching his father run a sucessful international brand after developing a revolutionary fading process. His sensitivity for fashion soon became a passion and he studied fashion marketing at ESMOD Paris before working for a number of companies including Dries Van Noten, Ralph Lauren and Kitsune. When the time was right and pushed by the desire to launch a clothing line, Clément started creating his own brand under the Still Good moniker, referring to a tag line from one of his father’s advertising campaigns.

The Spring/Summer 2012 Collection includes a mixture of more traditional clothing and modern geometric styles with fabrics carefully sourced from both France and Japan. The collection includes knitwear, selvedge denim jeans, printed tees and a casual footwear collaboration with Spring Court. Inspirations are taken from brands such as Dries Van Noten, Junya Watanabe, Comme des Garcons and Raf Simons.

Still Good will be arriving at Denim Geek over the next few weeks.

A man whose substantial experience speaks volumes, Ian Paley has seen a storied history working for the likes of prestigious brands such as Paul Smith, Burberry and Levi’s. In addition to lending his vision and insight to a range of influential labels, Paley is also the founder and creative driving force behind Couverture and The Garbstore – two well-respected haberdasheries/womenswear outfitters and homeware purveyors. Paley recently opened up to Glenn Kitson and MANUFACTURE MAGAZINE for a three-part interview to discuss his early beginnings, the relationship between retail and fashion, manufacturing and quality production, and a few of the lessons learned along the way. You can read the full interview by clicking the link at the bottom of this post.

Tell us how you got started please?

Graphic design was a family trade; I had an uncle and aunty that did a lot of graphic work so it was always assumed that I would go into designing myself. I was always into clothes though. I worked in clothes shops and grew up in a northeast town where things pretty much revolved around football and the pub. With that background you tended to know about two things – wearing the right clothes to chase the girls and what happened at the match that day. So I ended up doing fashion, going to university and learning the basics of menswear.
I was learning the properties of cloth, the textile game and then learning to cut patterns which was the most important skill to learn. You look at 90% of the menswear designers today and hardly any of them can cut a pattern, they were not taught it. They just look at other people’s designs and try and change a pocket here or a seam there. They call it ‘product design’ but they’ve never learned to cut and see how things fit. Only when you’ve done that can you come up with something new.

What about working life, where did you begin?

After university the first job I got was at Paul Smith, which involved pretty much running his whole casual-wear thing. Then after a year I helped to set up some of the ‘shop in shops’ in Japan with a very good team of people. It was a marvelous company and I had quite a lot of freedom with no one to answer to. It was a fairly small group of us with a handful of people doing everything with a very little support team, so you got to put in a massive amount of work and see the development. Right the way through from doing the pattern, buying the fabric, going to factories, then I would go to the selling shows, and then merchandising it in the shops and seeing the whole process through from start to finish. I would also get involved in the ad campaigns and develop how the product was presented in the magazines etc. It was good work and I enjoyed it.

What early lessons did you learn?

I learned to make decisions based on costs and effectiveness and I learned to make them in a heartbeat. So when the time came to do my own stuff and it was my own money I was putting in it made you question these decisions even more. It was good; it meant you could cut through the crap very quickly and attempt to get it right from the offset. Because I cut my teeth into the trade when it was Brit-pop and everyone was looking at Britain in the 90’s, it was absolutely booming and it felt like you could do anything. Whether, you where good or bad it didn’t really matter as long as you were British you had a great chance of succeeding.

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW AT MANUFACTURE MAGAZINE

Photography: Mark Smith and Glenn Kitson

Brandon Svarc and his team of denim experts are some of the most passionate people in the denim industry. Dedicated to breaking the traditional barriers surrounding denim production, quality and innovation, Naked & Famous Denim recently debuted their Scratch-n-Sniff Raspberry Scented Denim for Spring/Summer 2012. Having initially made waves with the introduction of its Glow in the Dark Selvedge denim, the latest foray is into a scented denim in their WeirdGuy fit. The rich 12oz indigo denim is infused with an aroma of raspberry that is released upon contact and augmented by the inclusion of a red-colored leather waist patch. Addmitedly not for everyone, scented denim is nonetheless a creative and untapped niche that Naked & Famous are more than happy to fill. You can grab yourself a pair now from the store.

Photos: Hypebeast

Having recently developed a renewed presence among street and heritage fashion circles alike, Herschel Supply Co. has unveiled its much anticipated Spring/Summer 2012 lookbook. Consistent with the label’s past offerings, a cross-processed pictorial sees a range of lifestyle shots showcasing both new and old back packs and day packs. Retaining much of the Herschel Supply Co. identity, the collection sees various chromatic canvas and nylon cordura-constructed packs, each with their own incorporation of tan leather details, gold zipper hardware and understated Herschel patchwork. Be sure to check out our selection of Herschel Bags in the store.