Designer Q & A - Sharkah Chakra
This week's Designer Q & A is with Sara Simmonds, Founder and Designer of Sharkah Chakra - the luxury Fairtrade denim company.
1) Why do you think after 200 years jeans are still one of the most popular items of clothing?
I think the beauty of denim is its relationship to the social times we live in. If you think about it, from denim’s very conception jeans have always been about the people who wear them, their lives, and how they wear their jeans at that particular moment in time. I love that jeans can make social statements and I think that is why they have remained popular. If you look back to the 50’s jeans were worn as rebellion – think James Dean rebel without a cause, the 70’s jeans represent glamour and freedom Yves Saint Laurent I wish I had created blue jeans, and the 80’s Calvin Klein sex! For me personally I wanted to use denim to make something for now, for our generation and the issues impacting our lives – the environment, the people, and creating a sustainable future.
2) Last time I counted there were over 50 brands of premium denim jeans, what makes your jeans stand out from the rest?
Everything about my denim collection is designed to be different. I absolute agree that there is so little to distinguish denim brands these days and that is part of the thinking behind what I have created – something which is not only different and unique but which also redefines our perceptions of quality – handmade and hand-cut using only the finest materials. Our denim is the first premium denim collection to be made without exploitation of the people or the planet.
All Sharkah Chakra denim is made exclusively for Sharkah Chakra jeans and each pair of jeans is individually constructed and made for denim lovers. Our pure organic Fairtrade cotton is hand picked in Mali. The cotton is then dyed by a dye house who specialize in using pure natural indigo. Natural indigo not only gives our jeans their signature original and authentic colour, it’s pure ingredients means that our denim is non toxic and not harmful for the environment. Our denim is woven on original selvedge looms- as we love the best and the authentic. But we have taken selvedge denim to another level.
Our denim makers work with artisans to produce the first ever denim to be hand woven, giving each individual pair a unique finish. Some of our jeans are even signed by the artisan who wove the denim.
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Designer Q & A - Red Engine Jeans
This week's Designer Q & A is with Jim Boldes, Owner and Technical Designer of Red Engine Jeans.
1) Why do you think after 200 years jeans are still one of the most popular items of clothing?
Denim is neutral, and a perfect foundation. Denim, at its best, is uncomplicated yet makes a statement. you get to choose the degree and impact of the statement based on personal choice.
2) Last time I counted there were over 50 brands of premium denim jeans, what makes your jeans stand out from the rest?
I'm a purist and work really hard to create the best basic 5-pocket jean possible. No bells and whistles, no embellishments, no novelty. Red Engine is all about fit and feel, quality and consistency. Since 1999 (when I started the company), I've maintained my commitment to the product, not to hype or buzz, and I've kept the line a little more exclusive. Not in a "stuffy" we're-too-cool exclusive way, but we've been careful not to let the line get over-exposed. You'll never find it on the mark-down rack in a department store. And, based on all of these factors, I'm happy to say that Red Engine has achieved cult-status among denim connoisseurs who demand the very best from a pair of jeans.
3) Who do you imagine is a typical customer?
my typical customer is everyone reading this. It's a wide range, from someone looking for a great "Saturday Night" jean to dress up with heels and wants to feel great in her jeans from the inside, and look sexy (by her own set of rules) on the outside, to someone who wants a pair of "go-to" jeans with great quality and fit that are versatile and feel good.
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Designer Q & A - Rifle Jeans
1) Why do you think after 200 years jeans are still one of the most popular items of clothing?
Denim is unparalleled by any other fabric in its durability. You can wear it for a year without washing it. If it soils it adds to the character. If it tears, even better. There is something about having an item of clothing that gets more unique and comfortable with age. There is such beauty in that phenomenon, like the beauty in a scarred wrinkled face of an old person or the cracks and crazes in an old piece of china, telling a life’s journey and history with every mark. The color indigo is another reason for our unending love affair with jeans. Indigo blue mirrors the sky and the ocean. It gives us the same sense of infinity and instills a sense of calmness.
In our time denim has become a fetish, a symbol of rebellion and an icon of the counterculture revolution that each generation goes through. It has thereby secured a future beyond its already attractive attributes. At present, no time is foreseeable when denim will not be in fashion. At the least, it will always be an important part of fashion history.
2) Last time I counted there were over 50 brands of premium denim jeans, what makes your jeans stand out from the rest?
I like to quote Carmen Miranda, when asked that question. She once said, with the best sense of humor, "Bananas is my business," which she happened to be wearing on her head. Rifle is to denim what Miranda was to Bananas. The company has been making jeans since 1958. This is the third generation of a family business, and along with Levis, Lee and Wrangler, Rifle has pioneered denim fashion unfailingly over the years. We understand how to construct them and deconstruct them.
Super Rifle, the premium line, is made using only the best Italian fabrics and highest quality trims. We offer a wide range of excellent fits and a large variety of beautiful washes. Every detail is minutely thought out and executed. The same attention is paid to the inside finish of the garment, as to the outside.
3) Who do you imagine is a typical customer?
Like most designers I imagine an ideal. That person would be young and sexy with a beautiful and perfectly proportioned body. But I don’t actually think that there is such a thing as a typical customer. I have seen young girls wearing my jeans and looking stellar and I have also seen mature woman with kids looking equally good and sexy in them. I think it is a question of body type and shape more than anything else. But what is most important to me is that the person wearing my jeans will feel terrific, whatever their age, body type or lifestyle.
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Designer Q & A - Denim Demon
1) Why do you think after 200 years jeans are still one of the most popular items of clothing?
Jeans are timeless, have a long lifetime and only gets more and more beautiful. What else, apart from maybe leather, gets better and better the more you use it? Other materials only gets uglier and uglier as time pass and the more you wash it, denim doesn't. It's as easy as that.
2) Last time I counted there were over 50 brands of premium denim jeans, what makes your jeans stand out from the rest?
As Levi's and Lee use their history to produce their vintage pieces, we use ours. We heritage from the Sami culture, one of the world's indigenous peoples, therefore we add details from that. For example we have Sarves, a limited edition piece in 15,5 oz unsanforized and unsigned denim with embossed reindeer antlers in the button, a selvage with colors from the flag of the county of Jämtland together with a leather patch with Sami artwork and text in South Sami language. One of the things Sami people make their living out of is handicraft: knifes, clothes, shoes and bracelets amongst many other things. So one thing we share with them is the love of handicraft and details. We aren't just another denim label, we have an actual story to tell.
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Designer Q & A - Level 99
1) Why do you think after 200 years jeans are still one of the most popular items of clothing?
Versatility and comfort.
2) Last time I counted there were over 50 brands of premium denim jeans, what makes your jeans stand out from the rest?
It is a good mix of classic and modern.
3) Who do you imagine is a typical customer?
Hip, current and owns more than just one jean.
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Designer Q&A - PRPS
Photo by Phillip Angert
This week's Designer Q&A is with Donwan Harrell, founder of one of my favourite denim brands PRPS.
1) Why do you think after 200 years jeans are still one of the most popular items of clothing?
Denim is a versatile fabric that has the ability to transform into fashion and basics as well as being functional. Denim is ever-evolving and will most likely be around for another 200 years.
2) Last time I counted there were over 100 brands of premium denim jeans, what makes your jeans stand out from the rest?
PRPS is a luxury denim brand that is produced in Japan we are one of the few brands who are able to create an authentic vintage wash that actually looks like real vintage and we provide the best craftsmanship and quality. Our classic pieces defy fads and get better with age.
David Beckham in PRPS Jeans
3) Who do you imagine is a typical customer?
A typical PRPS customer is someone who wants the best quality jeans out there. We have classic raw selvedge denim for purists who don’t want a vintage feeling; they want to wear in their jeans over time. Then we have the fanatics who want every style and wash possible. They want it first and tend to collect the jeans.
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