Inspired by the life, work and the road-tripping lifestyle of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, Edwin’s Spring/Summer 2013 Collection utilises premium Japanese fabrics to create a strong, solid and adaptable collection.

The rich indigo five-pocket denim Edwin is famous for creates the foundation for the collection, while the juxtaposition of twills, t-shirts, sweats and shirting lead effortlessly into a variety of light washes from Italy’s most experienced laundry houses.

Spring Summer 2013 also signals Edwin’s first installment of an ongoing capsule collection created in conjunction with Paris based Blitz Motorcycles. This collection comprises a selection of carefully chosen archetypal Edwin pieces that have been carefully and lovingly amended to integrate a heightened level of practical daily use.

Max Kingery recently launched a Kickstarter campaign in support of his new denim project, Legacy of Cool. Legacy of Cool is a Limited Edition denim line and documentary film. The project’s mission is simple: To illuminate a story that celebrates craftsmanship, design, and a deep love of denim. The film takes us across the globe as he seeks out the materials, inspiration and people who genuinely share his passion for the denim jean.

Backers who pledge their support to the project will receive exclusive jeans, accessories and basic goods. Investments will allow Max and his team to ship the denim they discovered in Japan to America for a final production run of jeans.

Some of the leading Denim experts in the industry have been confirmed for the documentary and will be featured in the film. Already appearing are Zip Stevenson, founder of the Hollywood Trading Company (HTC), Jeff Rudes (founder of J BRAND), and Atsu Tagaya (founder of Stevenson Overall Co).

Check out this interesting Kickstar project by clicking here.

The much hyped, 21oz Unbranded Branded jeans should be arriving at Denim Geek in late November/early December. The fabric is soft to the handle but has all the girth and rigidness you would expect from a quality, heavyweight selvedge denim. Dyed indigo, the colour is a lovely dark shade that will fade and age incredibly well.

The heavyweight denim will be available in all 3 of Unbranded’s regular fits (Skinny, Tapered, Straight) and will feature gold rivets and buttons! The best news of all is that they will be retailing at well under £100.

Note: The selvedge on the jeans will be blue for production.

As you may have noticed, we’ve been busy over the last few months securing a few new brand additions for the Denim Geek roster. One of these is Dockers, who specialise in truly wearable khaki as an alternative to denim whatever the weather. Unless you have been living under a rock the past couple of years, you would of noticed that the chino is back in a big way within menswear.

The Dockers Brand has embodied the spirit of Khaki for more than quarter of a century and Dockers make Khaki trousers that do their job, so the wearer can get on with theirs. The brand have pioneered new apparel with the introduction of Khaki trousers as an alternative to denim and within a few years have became the go-to alternative to a more formal way of dress, with khaki finding its way in to the office as a more comfortable substitute to the suit.

From its origination in 1986, the Dockers brand revolutionised the industry with a range of highly wearable clothes for a versatile, on-the-go lifestyle which it made its own. Its popularity was instant.

The 1980s saw an explosion of colourful styles in men’s clothing. Film and television influenced the way men dressed and the growing popularity of Miami Vice and Magnum P.I saw men replicating the stars of these shows by wearing khaki trousers or coloured chinos with loafers or yachting shoes without socks.

By the mid 1990s, Dockers hit $1 billion in sales as the brand was launched worldwide including Canada, New Zealand, Chile, Costa Rica, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia and Europe. In 1995, research showed that Dockers Khaki trousers were found in the wardrobes of eight out of ten American men, becoming the definite Khaki pant brand coming out on top despite strong competition from cheaper High Street brands.

By the mid-noughties, Dockers became the instinctive choice for teenagers as the skater-boy look took a hold of the fashion industry for men and women. With such stars as Justin Timberlake, Avril Lavigne, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck choosing Khaki as an alternative to jeans. Worn over-sized and low slung, Dockers came to symbolize the same kind of teenage rebellion that denim did over 50 years before.

As the Khaki revolution continued to spread, so too did the demand for fresher fits and fabrications. The Dockers brand delved into its pant portfolio, re-styled and began to refresh its most popular fits, as well as creating a new and stronger varieties.

This season with Dockers, we’ve taken delivery of several colourways in the Alpha Khaki, the brand’s most superior fitting and comfy pants to date. Boasting a modern fit for a new generation, the Alpha Khaki is the perfect versatile option to endure the changeable British weather.  If they’ve good enough for Bear Grylls, they’re good enough for us.

Dockers Timeline

1986
Levi’s launches Dockers pants as an alternative to denim in the US with the Wing & Anchor logo.

1987
Dockers becomes the fastest growing clothing brand in history.

1988
Launch of Womanswear collection in the USA.

1992
Eight out of ten American men wear Dockers Pants. Innovations in colour and easy-care-fabrics create a higher demand with consumers.

1994
Dockers hits $1 billion in sales and launches the brand in Europe, Asia and Central America.

2000
Dockers is leading the category in Europe and becomes the number one Khaki pant specialist.

2005
Repositioning of the brand to become a total look provider and introduction of San Francisco logo.

2008-9
Focus on marketing campaigns to reflect Khaki-lifestyle and contemporary silhouettes and slimmer fits.

2010
Dockers goes through a further rebranding; reintroducing the Wing & Anchor first seen when the brand launched in 1986. The Khaki trend continues to sweep the High Street, with forecasts looking healthy for 2011.

2011
The Dockers brand launches the Alpha Khaki – The new generation of Khaki for the next generation of Men.

Take a look at our first Dockers Alpha Khaki drop now over at the store.

The new Herschel Supply Co Fall/Winter Collection sees an expanded range of vintage-inspired products from the brand, motivated by the outdoors. The collection features classic backpacks, bags, and other accessories mixed with new ideas that make them suitable in the modern world. Highlights include camouflage backpacks as well as the brand’s signature color blocked items. Several items feature creative linings such as paisleys and contrasting colors that bring a new level of excitement and style to the collection. Herschel are great at paying close attention to the details while still creating items that are wearable and timeless.

Keep an eye out for new season Herschel Bags dropping at Denim Geek in the next month.

This week, Denim Geek reached 5000 followers on Twitter!  To celebrate, we’re offering one of those followers the chance to WIN a £100 voucher to spend in our store!  We’d like to thank you guys for all the support so far and for helping Denim Geek past it’s first birthday as an online store.  We’re looking forward to the next 12 months and have a few things in the pipeline including some great new brands for the roster.

To enter the competition and the chance to WIN the £100 voucher simply:

1. Follow @DenimGeek on Twitter

2. Tweet the following…

“Denim Geek Twitter Competition – Win £100 to spend at @denimgeek!  http://blog.denimgeek.com/5k-competition #competition SALE NOW ON at http://www.denimgeek.com/sale-c15″

We’ll be announcing the winner next week!  Good Luck!

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.