Hot and nerdy
A new devil-in-the-details denim line. Plus new belts, a Japanese slow-clothes maker pops-up in L.A., touring a mid-century masterpiece home & more unbeatable recon
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During our recon trip to Tokyo last March, I (Erin) met up with an L.A.-based veteran denim designer. Over the last ~20 years, she’s helped Ralph Lauren, Helmut Lang and, at Uniqlo U, Christophe Lemaire make jeans — and she was visiting Japan for a couple weeks on a secret denim mission: “I’m launching a denim line,” she confided.
Japan has high-quality denim on lock, so she was Shinkansen-ing herself around the country to visit mills, factories and cotton farms, gathering intel and making connections. Her plan was to honor denim’s workwear DNA — the extreme functionality, the durable construction, and the many (fascinatingly) geeky details — while applying it to more feminine styles.
Jump cut to today: The line is out as of this morning and, in a Concorde exclusive, we’ve got the story behind the line, and how it balances nerdy and hot.
Also in today’s Concorde:
Made-to-order deadstock leather belts — just the thing to wear with those new jeans,
Another reason to send mail,
A midcentury architectural masterpiece you can tour IRL or online; one of the best slow-clothes makers from Japan is popping up this month at a fantastic new L.A. design & home-goods shop — and the pieces will hit their webshop, too; and more.
Let’s get to it —
Starting with the new denim line: