Making anything isn’t easy when it comes to clothes, even something as simple as a t-shirt can make for many sleepless nights, or me exclaiming, “BUT WILL THE SLEEVES BE TOO LONG?!?!” at the dinner table. However, the one item of clothing that has caused me the most heartache is legwear and in particular, jeans.
I must start, dear reader, by telling you that I have been as obsessed with jeans and denim fabric for almost as long as I have been obsessed with football shirts and that really is a long time.
My mum will tell a tale of how I made her and my grandma walk around Accrington market looking for jeans that ‘Will Smith wore in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.’ You may be surprised to learn that Stüssy jeans weren’t freely available in the fashion capital of East Lancashire, but we did find some pretty smashing 501s that I was very happy with.
Evisu, Pepe Jeans, Edwin, Levi’s, Wrangler, Iron Heart, HebTroCo, wild Japanese brands etc etc, over the years I have had them all. I also loved Indigo Eccentrics jeans – shout out to the lovely people at Sa-Kis in Sheffield back in the day! As a result of all these years of research, I thought it would be super easy to make my own pair of jeans. Turns out it really wasn’t.
The first pair I made was simple, 5-pocket, straight-leg and made from a beautiful Japanese fabric. They were made in Bolton by Upender, had some of the details missing that I wanted, but were almost there… I had more returns than I did completed transactions… Back to the drawing board.
Two years went by and I got another pair made in Blackburn by world-renowned jeans makers. They had almost every possible detail that you could want, they were manufactured in small numbers to a beautiful standard. Four pairs went out of the door to team members who loved them, they then hit the sale and I ended up giving them to my mates… Throw the drawing board out of the window.
2023 rolls around (FIVE YEARS LATER) and I am determined to make the best jeans in the world… and I do. I threw the kitchen sink at them (and then took back some of the utensils), found the best jeans maker in the UK, had a samosa with him and got my Italian pals to make me some denim. The sample was perfect, the production was perfect, the packaging was perfect and sales were… perfect. We sold out in some sizes in seconds. And the best part is, barely any returns!!! (which, incidentally, I can only thank you lot for, exchanges and credit notes really help us grow!)
I am not going to preach, but this shows how small businesses need time and support to get better and it is thanks to you lot that we could. It has also restored my confidence that I know how to make trousers… so make sure to look out for our new Fosse trousers, which will probably be the last pair of kecks you will ever need.