Eco-Love: Good Society Jeans

I first fell for Good Society because their jeans reminded me so much of my beloved A.P.C. jeans: a gorgeously dark indigo wash, plain unadorned pockets, no-frills styling elevated by an attention to line and detail. And their back pockets sat low on the seat, a flattering feature that gives the effect of cool, nonchalant slouchiness without actual, flattery-warping slouchiness. (Katayone Adeli trousers used to do this back in the day with their back pockets, and they were the best pants I've ever worn.) Good Society makes jeans for dudes and ladies and is masterminded by Slings and Stones founder Aidan Dinh, who was looking to create a denim line at a more moderate price point than the super-luxe Slings and Stones label. Like its older sister label, Good Society is highly ethical: it's made from fair trade labor in India and made of organic cotton, and 10% of the profits are allocated for various charitable causes. So it's goodness all around, all while looking good. And who can argue with that? Available at various online shops, including Tobi, which carries the awesome slim leg style.

Denim: Sling and Stones

Things kind of got over-saturated there in the premium denim market for a moment, but when Sling and Stones crossed our radar, our tired ears perked up: the relatively new denim line is sustainable and ethically-produced, which always makes us happy. The denim itself looks pretty cool, with unique details like square 24k gold-plated buttons (instead of the usual round ones) and a non-traditional yoke in the back. The cloth is organic Japanese supima denim, the cuts are modern and au courant, they're using certified fair trade labor whenever possible, and the company is donating a percentage of its profits to educational, cultural and ecological initiatives that benefit the communities in which the jeans are manufactured. Good denim with a good conscience: that's always stylish, don't you think?

Once we get better pictures, we'll post them, but FYI, Sling and Stones will be available through the following retailers in late August/early September:

New York: Bergdorf Goodman, Jeffrey's New York, What Comes Around Goes Around, Kaight, Armoire (Brooklyn), BOC (491 Columbus Ave)

Los Angeles: Nordstroms (Pacific Palisades), Kate Daniels (Seal Beach), Sidewalks (Laguna Beach), Switch (Beverly Hills), Satine (L.A.), Stacey Todd (Studio City)

Online: Selfedge.com, Denimbaronline.com, Shopbop.com, Revolveclothing.com

Kate Moss Watch: A Flare Up?

For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for love or for hate: we're Kate Moss watchers. So of course we've been totally interested in how she's been spotted out of her skinny jeans lately, sporting a pair of flares at parties, rock festivals and just out and about in London. (The photo below is of the mighty Moss leaving the Topshop offices.) So are we going to see the resurgence of flares along with the wide-legged jeans that are starting to pop up everywhere? Are you sick already of the seesawing? Are you even wearing jeans anymore?

Denim Blogs!

Let's just make it a denimcentric day, shall we? Just wanted to point out two particularly good denim blogs: denimnews.blogspot.com, which many of you know and which is written by Henry Wong, who actually works in the industry. And there is also the super-stylish Denimology. Check them out!

Denim: Skinny Jeans, Major Sales

There's a top article today in WWD about how skinny jeans have created a new denim surge, at least in major cities. The change from the traditional bootcut jean to a long, lean, narrow silhouette has prompted a new bump in denim sales, with dark indigo or black-based washes leading the fray, along with clean, non-distressed styling. Brands cited as being the vanguard in the trend are: Sass & Bide's Frayed Misfits style and Superfine, as well as Earnest Sewn, Habitual, J Brand, Acne, Taverniti So and the usual suspects (Seven, Joe's, etc.) The trend meets some resistance outside of major cities, but in places as diverse as Los Angeles and Paris, the skinny jean is in, with Paris hot for black and white denim. Some boutiques reported having to ease their customers first into straight legs before going skinny (which I found inexplicably funny, imagining all these cowering would-be customers recoiling from skinny jeans with some sales person slowly approaching them with a pair of jeans, going "It's okay, these are only straight legs, they won't hurt...")

So it looks like for now that the skinny jeans trend is making its mark in the premium denim arena, enough so that sales have picked up overall. But does it have legs? Are skinny jeans a 'blue states' thing? Suburban areas report slow sales, and even though trends take fire in urban areas, there's only so long before the market cools again and suburban sales keep things steady - if a trend takes fire there.

Denim: Lists and Numbers

Some factoids for those who love to keep track of random trivia...who knows? It might just show up at some hipster trivia night. According to today's WWD, these are the top women's denim brands overall for 2005:

The Top Leading Women's Jean Brands, 2005

1. Levi's*
2. Gap
3. Old Navy
4. L.E.I.
5. Tommy Hilfiger
6. Mudd
7. American Eagle
8. Gloria Vanderbilt
9. Lee
10. Abercrombie & Fitch

*Levi's includes all Levi's and Levi Strauss signature products.
Source: NPD Group

However, also according to WWD, the most Internet-searched denim brands are:

1. Guess?
2. Diesel
3. Levi's
4. Seven (not sure if this refers to Seven for all Mankind or Seven7)
5. Apple Bottoms (Nelly's denim brand)
6. Von Dutch
7. Citizens of Humanity
8. Miss Sixty
9. Lucky Jeans
10. True Religion

Source: Stylophane, an e-commerce solutions company based in San Francisco

The Ballad of Earl Jean: Where Did All the 44s Go?

I was reading yesterday how financial analysts predict a huge glut of denim in the fall, especially at the midpoint price point level, i.e. Gap, American Eagle, Express. Designer denim companies are also ramping up their offerings, and there looks to be no end to new brands launching, working up a hot streak and then fading away. I know this comes as good news to all the denim cultists out there, even though it's exhausting to keep track of all the names, stitching, finishes, and details: there should be a high-quality trendy jean for any budget at this point.

Considering the maturity of the premium denim market and the sheer breadth of offerings out there, it's highly ironic that I still managed to have a hard time last month finding a new pair of jeans to buy to replace a few that had simply just fallen apart. Maybe it was because I was out of practice (shopping being the new extreme sport, I suppose, and not having bought a pair of jeans for over two years), or maybe it was because I'm extremely picky: no distinctive stitching on the back pocket, no crazy distressing, absolutely no super low-rise and nothing super-tight. You know, just a plain basic jean that was both comfortable and flattering. I tried on a million things that never quite clicked, aesthetically speaking. But it was when I was cleaning out my closet when I came across an old pair of Earl 44s. They were old and faded, but still had an amazing fit and feel, and of all the jeans in my closet, had managed to retain the same sense of stretch and shape as when I first got them. Of course! It was so obvious; sometimes you have to go back to the beginning to go forward, and I was off to find a new pair.

If anyone ever writes a cultural history of the designer jean, there will be a chapter devoted to Earl Jean. Before there was Seven, Citizens, Paper or Rogan, there was Earl Jean, whose style #44 was one of the original cult jeans that headed up the most recent denim boom for low-rise stretch denim bootcut jeans. Any article you read on the starlet du jour back then had a mention of her wearing Earls (along with how she wasn't wearing any makeup but looked stunning and yes, she was a total geek in high school but look at her now, blah blah blah.) But where is the Earl 44 these days? There were really nowhere to be found on any of the major online retailers, and a scouring of department stores showed that they had disappeared from that arena as well. There are a very few online stores that still sell it, but for the most part the jean has faded into the background of a very crowded stage.

So it was with great irony to read an article about how bursting the denim market is just when some of its original vanguards, falling to the vagaries of business, mergers and competition, have faded from the scene. Style so often gets isolated into discussions of aesthetics and influences, but it's so closely tied to business cycles and their effects on distribution: at one point the denim market will glut, smaller companies will fail, larger ones will get unwieldy and then sold to some lame high bidder, and there go your favorite jeans. What's the lesson in all this, besides learn how to be a fashion Buddhist and practice non-attachment? Well, first of all, hoard: you never know when companies go out of business, change structure, whatever. And secondly, there's always Ebay.

Meltin' Pot

Meltin' Pot denim:
Ubiquitous they are now.
Should Diesel beware?

Loomstate Jeans: Where "Sexy" and "Organic" Are Not Mutually Exclusive Words

I had sort of put a moratorium on my personal interest in denim (because there are just too many labels to keep up with!) But a few people have sent me info on Loomstate, so I checked out their lovely, lovely website and, intrigued, went off to try some of their jeans on. Run by the same folks at Rogan Jeans, Loomstate uses 100% organic cotton and possesses the same sexy workmanlike aesthetic and artisanal details (cool fabric lined pockets, vertical stitching) that made Rogan so urgently hot. Loomstate jeans are slightly cheaper than Rogans and I find they fit women a little better (although it still helps, apparently, to be tall and lanky, which I am so not.) And that 100% organic cotton itself? Wonderful-feeling. As Loomstate's website says, "People who give a shit are sexy."

The Denim Report

It's been awhile since we wrote about jeans, partly because I hit serious denim fatigue and partly because I stopped buying new jeans about a year and a half ago. But WWD today has got tons of info about retailers, designers and their denim plans, which should make the jeans fanatics out there plenty happy. Some tidbits:

Jeans vendors continue to focus on color and wash. More brands are preparing to roll out superskinny legs.

Wash types are fragmented, with consumers looking for a more personalized appearance. As a result, Frankel said, the wash story will likely be bipolar for 2005: “There are two styles that are very important: The clean look and the distressed look.”

He said he expects cropped jeans and Caribbean colors to be a driver for spring.

Seven For All Mankind plans to focus on white jeans for spring, demand for which Crane said “has exploded for us.” For fall, the company expects trouser-cut pants, styled more like dress pants than traditional five-pocket jeans, to be important. The company’s planning to roll out a new, high-waisted style called the “Jagger.”

Also: look for denim lines aimed at the older customer (what, they don't like dirty denim and super low-riding fits?)

It's all so overwhelming that I'm going to stick to my perfectly plain Earls and A.P.C. jeans. (I do confess that I still have a liking for a dark pair of Sevens that are totally falling apart now.)

Another Contender: Cynthia Rowley Jeans

Just because the elevator is full doesn't mean others try to get on...word in today's WWD is that Cynthia Rowley has just signed a license to produce women's jeans for department and specialty stores. Details about look and styling are fuzzy, but no doubt they'll possess that cheerful, feminine thing you see all over Rowley's Swell home line at Target.

(Thanks, Leslie!)

Notify Jeans

I still get people emailing me about high-end denim, although I do think the buzz in this market has cooled down, now that Seven, Citizens, AG, Yanuk and Lord knows what else has been joined by a million other labels. This segment of the market is just a little oversaturated, and by now most people know what flatters their individual bums.

So what's the latest thing? I've had lots asking after Notify Jeans, which I know is carried in New York at places like Barneys, Henri Bendel, etc. Notify is more of a "denim trouser" than a jean, with "fashion styling" aimed at the truly fancy people. Personally, if I'm going to wear denim, I would just rather wear jeans, but if you are a true aficionada of the blue canvas, then you're probably searching for ways to extend denim into different shapes and concepts. Luxury denim for women is probably going to keep going in this direction - more "fashion styling" (whatever that means) and more formality in the line and shape. But don't worry. I'm sure in a few years, it'll all be switched around anyway.

A Fitting Pair! Built by Wendy & Wrangler Jeans

Ingenues and gents of a certain indie rock stripe are sure to get excited about this: Built by Wendy is doing a collection for Wrangler Jeans. The line will be available for ordering online on the Built by Wendy site by mid-August, so all the Chan Marshall lookalikes - or anyone else who appreciates the feminine yet tomboy look - can be geared up in time for the new school year.

(Thank you, Cathy!)

Fight Cellulite and Look Hot - At the Same Time!

Miss Sixty is selling an "anti-cellulite" jean and it's over at shopbop.com. I love how it says "Results not guaranteed" on the website.

Rick Owens Jeans Coming Soon?

I read all the fashion magazines so you don't have to. (And trust me, you may not want to.) In the October issue of Vogue (great Gwyneth cover, boring Gwyneth interview), there's a profile of one of No Good's favorite designers Rick Owens and his new gig at Revillon. It's what you'd expect for the most part: He wears motorcycle boots! He's got tattoos! He's from L.A.! He's amazing! But the real news is that he's in contract talks with an L.A. jeans company. Denim cultists, take note...

DENIM AGAIN

In my crusade to champion nonwhiskered, nondistressed, nonanything jeans, I would like to point out that Language NYC is selling a comparatively plain pair of Sevens. (Many thanks, Kate!)

And by the way, guess what is gracing shopbop.com's home page? A denim fall forecast focusing on (mostly basic) dark denim. I feel so vindicated.

DENIM ON A MORE EVEN KEEL

Perhaps evidence is straggling in that jeans are swinging back to a more clean, crisp coloring: After my slightly cranky rant about the over-distressing, whiskering, fading and creasing of denim, eLuxury is currently selling a more even-toned Blue Cult jean.

DENIM BITS N' PIECES

Fall is so big on skirts, boots and coats for women that jeans seem to have been banished in favor of a more formal aesthetic. However, when have real women ever listened to those looney people in fashion? Jeans will still continue to sell as long as there are lives to be lived. The August issue of Harper's Bazaar has a little item called "New Jeans to Know About" in their fashion news page. One line featured is, of course, Citizens of Humanity, but there are two more: Chip & Pepper and Yanuk. Naturally, all are at Barneys. And of course they all feature various distressed washes, sanding, and what have you. But my big question is: Is it possible to find a fashionable jean that isn't distressed anymore? Wandering around the men's department in Barneys Co-op with Peter Rojas, the stylish editor of Gizmodo, I saw that every single style of jeans in there had some sort of distressed effect, which looked a little overdone and fussy. It's hit critical mass, folks, and it needs to stop. Peter made off with the only pair of non-distressed rinse jeans in there, a pair of Levis cut precise and lean. I'm predicting that by next big jeans season, a darker, more uniform rinse will find its way back onto the streets of style, sort of like cleansing the palate and starting over. (I'll let the career hipsters resurrect acid wash for themselves.) At any rate, I'm going back to my A.P.C. jeans for fall, the ones so stiff and dark blue that they could stand up on their own, as well as my old Earls and Katayone Adelis. (Which, by the way, can be found at bluefly.com.) It will be good to earn those fadings and creases.

ROGAN JEANS: THE UNOFFICIAL FAQ

This is ridiculous, but it needed to be done. Here I present to you: the Rogan Jeans FAQ. I do this not of my freewill, but because evvvveerrrrrryone keeps asking me about these jeans. Like I know anything, but here you go...

What's so great about these jeans?

I have no idea, to be honest, since I haven't tried them on and I've seen few pictures. I'll quote from an article in the June 2003 Vogue: "Jeans feature triple-needle stitching and four-piece waistbands 'to give them more of a fifties feel.'" They seem to run at about the $200 range. I've seen a regular trouser style and a cargo pant style.

Who designs these jeans?

A fellow named Rogan Gregory, who is in business with two fellows named Scott Haan and Kevin Ryan. Mr. Gregory likes to surf, apparently.

Does Rogan have a website?

CORRECTION! Yes, they do, as a fine reader wrote in and told me: http://www.rogannyc.com/index.php. So you can stop reading and go there!

Where do they sell Rogans?

This is definitely a New York thing: it's at Barneys Co-op and, last I've heard, Atrium and Alife and DDC Lab. They sell out quickly, from what I hear.

Why are these so hot now?

Because no one has them but everyone's read about them. And because all the models are wearing them, duh, and we all know about that secret fashion cabal where models meet, smoke and make up crazy stuff for us mere mortals to wear...

How do they fit?

The only definite report I hear is from a self-described "short, skinny" girl, who found them too loose in the hip and rear. Models seem to like them, so maybe they work for those tall, skinny girls.

And this is really all I know about these jeans.

DENIM DILEMMAS

Sometimes a pair of jeans is just a pair of jeans--but usually it is most definitely not, which is why so many folks out there fuss, fight and fixate on getting something different and interesting. But what to do when something catches on and soon your favorite brand is emblazoning the pockets of everyone in your zip code? A reader wrote in: "I want to try out another jean brand, it seems like everyone around here wears Sevens...I mean my little sister's fifteen year old boppy friends wear them. I need to find a more mature jean."

There are two ways to handle this: you can either keep ahead of the crowd and scout out cutting-edge and obscure brands, or you can go the "classic" route. The former method will drive you crazy and possibly bankrupt, but at least you will have the satisfaction of having something that very few people have and know about--for about three months. (This is one month in Internet time.) Sticking to tried-and-true will free up finances and valuable mindspace so you can read deeply and contemplate the wonders of the human condition, reflecting on love, passion, boredom, disillusionment, torment, agony and total utter despair...which will only send you shopping, I suppose, or off to an ashram where no one cares what jeans you are wearing because you'll never be able to do a proper downward-facing dog in them. On a more practical level, I think the key to a more mature jean is foremost something that doesn't have an easily identifiable label on the back pockets advertising your know-how like a Las Vegas neon sign. Instead, grown-up jeans derive their stylishness from the attention paid to details like seaming, washes, sanding, stitching, etc., which will garner the admiring glance of a discerning denim expert. (So what if you don't impress the mall rats? You're beyond that!) It all depends on what works for your body, of course. I still like Earls for their fit and comfort, and Habituals have great detailing with a definite workmanlike edge. And don't forget that designers like Helmut Lang, Katayone Adeli and A.P.C. all make jeans that were big with the fashion tribes well before Sevens, Paper and Blue Cult hit. (I've always loved Adeli's trousers and pants, actually, and it's interesting to note that all the stylist girls I've met all wear Katayone Adeli.) It's also nice to remember that not every jean has to be the tight lowrider style in vogue right now. What with fall's focus on the waist with corsetlike jackets and tops, belted coats and motocross fashion, I'm predicting that the eye will be trained to appreciate higher rises within a few seasons. After all, Balenciaga made that high-waisted jean a few seasons ago. While it seemed sacriligeous to a lot of people clutching their stretch lowriders, I kept remembering when Calvin Klein did the knee-length skirt in the early 90s after a decade of 80s minis. Everyone clucked back then, too.

DENIM: IT'S NOT A FABRIC, IT'S A LIFESTYLE

I've said before that I get more email about jeans than anything else; it's a bit of an obsession and somehow inspires the cultist in people. At any rate, this entry is dedicated to you denimholics: Fuk.co.uk writes that Etienne Ozeki is designing a line of denim furniture available this September, which should get your denim knickers in a knot. (Ouch.)

ROGAN'S HEROES

I get more email about denim than anything else, especially on Rogan lately. One NYC reader wrote in, sighting only two pairs left as of last week at the Barneys Co-op on Wooster in size 31. They've been spotted in the last two months at alife (Orchard and Stanton) and Atrium (Bleecker + Broadway), and piped in that they didn't fit the short 'n skinny folk too well, being too large in the rear and hips.

Naturally, if anyone else wants to pipe in on the matter...