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Jeans in Rotation aims to take a closer look at what our friends in the industry are wearing on a daily basis. Although we might have 10 pairs of pants, it’s really about the two or three pair that actually get put on each morning. Victor and Sarah took a moment to share with us what they’re each wearing and even share some pictures of how those jeans have come to be their own.

What was the first pair of jeans you remember purchasing?

Victor: I remember my mom taking me to kmart to get a pair of Levis when I was in elementary school, the next week I slid down a hill and tore a hole in them. My mom was so mad! We ended up getting another pair, but it was a big deal. Jeans were an investment that were meant to last.

Sarah: I got a pair of denim flares from a thrift store with a really dense rainbow stitching all over the back pockets. I spent at least three weeks taking out all the stitching; the fit was so great that it was worth the effort. When the stitching was finally gone the denim underneath was significantly darker than the rest of the jeans. I think that was when I began to appreciate the character of denim and the way it changes with time and exposure.

Tell us about the first pair of jeans you made.

Victor: The first pair of pants that I ever made was when I was living in Ukraine. They weren’t jeans but they were what got me into making jeans. I was living with my Aunt and Uncle way out in the country. They didn’t have running water or much power. It was a little village of about 80 houses on one street. Everyone had five acres of land and one or two cows, completely sustainable and organic…but not necessarily by choice.

After college I went to live with them for three months. Two months in I was so bored I thought ‘I’m going to sew some pants!’ I took the thirty or so mile trip to town on the bus and bought whatever fabric I could and started making patterns. I used an 1880’s treadle sewing machine to sew these pants together. I didn’t have anything for the waist band and Sarah had sent me some home made cookies tied with a baby blue ribbon which I ended up using as the inside of the waist band. I keep that first pair up on my shelf in my office as a reminder of where we started. Soon after I had arrived back to North Carolina we really got obsessed with making jeans.

How did you fall in love with denim, and what does it mean to you?

We stumbled into it and fell in love with the simultaneous toughness and beauty of denim. We wanted to make jeans because it was what we wore everyday. We just started making them and became obsessed with the process. We spent a lot of of time in “informal apprenticeships” going up to the mountains and talking to people that worked at the last Levis factory in the country and two ladies at Cone Mills with years and years of experience. We learned a lot about denim from their love of their craft. We like that the jeans are a lot about the process and they have a connection to the wearer. You imprint them with the way that you live and they become a representation of what you do. Indigo is a living thing and has so much variance in character. It is always different, and has an elegance in its aging. We fell in love with these romantic aspects but were equally inspired by the history and heritage of denim production in North Carolina. It means a lot to be a part of the revitalization of the industry in our state in a very small way.

Where did the name Raleigh Denim come from?

Sarah: We both grew up in Raleigh. The community here and the textile resources of our state have enabled us to do what we love, so we thought the straight forward name of our home town was fitting.

Give us a breakdown of the jeans you currently have in rotation.

Victor: 

Jones Thin Organic – These jeans are made from the first crop of certified organic cotton grown in North Carolina. They’ve been worn for four months with no washes. We collaborated with Cotton of the Carolinas to convince some organic farmers to grow the first crop of certified organic cotton ever grown in North Carolina. We worked with the cotton gin, the spinning mill and Cone Mills to create a jean that has one of the smallest carbon footprints of any jeans made in the world…and using NC grown Certified Organic cotton.

Jones Indigo Dyed Canvas – This was the sample of the pants we made exclusively for Need Supply a few seasons back (The Jones Thin Trouser). They’ve been worn for one year with two washes. It’s a really beautiful lighter weight fabric and it’s nice because the warp and the weft are indigo dyed. So it starts out really dark but over time it fades into this pixilated look because it’s a 1X1 weave.

Jones Original – My Jones Thin Original was worn for 18 months three washes. The original fabric is first fabric that we designed with Cone Mills that they still make exclusively for us. It’s a 12.75 ounce tinted weft yarn which gives it a little bit of a darker color. It’s raw but then it breaks down to a brighter indigo blue. It wears to show those great deeper tones contrasted with the pops of brighter blues and white.

Sarah:

Surry Raw – about 4 months wear with only one wash.

Union Raw – more than a year of wear with 4 or 5 washes. Soft and comfy.

ORGANIC by John Patrick/RALEIGH collaboration slouch – raw denim made with recycled TV trays. I just started wearing these – they were a sample from our first presentation. I love how relaxed they are.

Raleigh Denim is available online and in the store, and is proudly made right here in the USA.

The pair of jeans that you’re seeing in this post were purchased just over eleven months ago and have never been washed or soaked. They are the Rogue Territory 14.5oz Stantons, using Japanese selvedge denim from the Kuroki Mills, a Japanese textile manufacturer that has been around since the 1950s. Unfortunately, these particular pair of Stantons are not being made anymore (or at least at the moment).

Needless to say, the wear you’re seeing comes with time. This particular fabric has done an amazing job of holding up through daily use and daily bicycle commutes to and from work. I can honestly say they have held stronger with consistent cycling than any other raw denim I have owned.

We’ll give you an update sometime next month after we give them a good soak and show you some contrasting images so you can see for yourself what a good bath does.

Enjoy!

Rogue Territory jeans and denim goods are handmade in Los Angeles. #keepthetradealive

What was the first pair of jeans you remember purchasing?

KT: The first pair of jeans that I can remember being excited about getting were a pair of raw denim Lee Rider selvedge 101Z in Amsterdam in 2003. I was studying abroad in the Netherlands for 5 weeks and I spent a fair amount of time in Amsterdam, it was there that I was introduced to the US brand repro movement. Europe was on that tip waaaay before we were. Anyway, I loved those jeans until I put them in the dryer, I didn’t realize they were unsanforized, they shrank 2 sizes…never made that mistake again.

Tell us about the first pair of jeans you made.

KT: I made my first pair of jeans out of a 13oz Cone Mills selvedge denim that had an olive green weft in August of 2007. I made them on a single needle Juki industrial machine and they took me about 2 weeks to complete…the hardest part was the clean finished center back seam and yoke. The coolest part about those jeans is that they had my first attempt at my lasso stitch detail on the back pocket, it wasn’t planned, it just kind of happened…I had no idea that one day I’d be incorporating that design detail into my own denim line.

How did you fall in love with denim and what does it mean to you?

KT: How do I answer this question without writing a freakin’ novel?! I believe my love for denim began at a very early age. When I was 5 years old, I had this amazing 3 piece denim suit with red buttons, my Mom says I used to just put that on and wear it around the house every chance I got.

At age 9 or 10, I remember seeing Brett Michaels or it may have Axel (I can’t recall) with faded and thrashed jeans, I thought it was the coolest thing ever, I immediately tried to replicate that look with an old pair Levis I had. In my sophomore year in high school, this was ’99, I came across this really cool “high-end” clothing store in SOHO NYC called Diesel, they had one style of raw denim at that time and I thought they were the coolest jeans I had ever seen, my older sister bought me them for my birthday, this was my first pair of “premium denim jeans.” They were $129.00. I remember the price because the most I had ever spent on a pair of jeans was maybe $60…I believe that’s when my obsession with denim really started.

There’s a reason why denim is loved the world over. It’s a fabric that is highly versatile and can be extremely personal. I say denim is extremely personal, ask anyone if they have a favorite pair of jeans. More often than not, that person will go to their closet and pull out a pair jeans and start telling you why these jeans are the best jeans in the world. The jeans could be riddled with holes and being held together with tape but that person will still love them. The denim we wear goes through life with us, we can recall specific moments in time by looking at its holes or stains or the color of the denim. This is why I love denim.

Denim is a live fabric. It has its own life cycle. It can be altered, torn, ripped, dyed and beaten to shit, but at the end of the day it’s still denim. Denim is visceral. Tell me why some people will spend $1000.00 on hand loomed denim from Japan and others will spend $29.99 for jeans made in China that are sold at Target, but yet they may have the same amount of love for their jeans. It’s not about price, it’s a feeling you get when you put on a pair of jeans that do exactly what you want them to do. I don’t think you can say that about any other fabric.

Where did the name Rogue Territory come from?

KT: When I started my custom denim business, I would say my style was pretty influenced by James Dean, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando and Steve McQueen, and the characters they portrayed early on in their careers. So I wanted to come up with a name that tied that rebellious nature that they all portrayed and the sense of pride and ownership that you get when you’ve worn and broken in a pair of jeans from its raw stage. So the word Rogue was meant to convey a sense of rebelliousness and badass-ness that you feel when you’ve got on a pair of raw denim jeans, and the Territory was supposed to describe that sense of ownership and pride you have when you talk to your buddies about your jeans and what kind adventures you’ve taken them on.

Give us a breakdown of the jeans your currently have in rotation.

KT: In Rotation: My 3+ year old Stantons that are one-of-a-kind. They are made out 15.5oz Kuroki selvedge denim, which has aged beautifully these past 3 years. I silk screened both pocket bags, the left one with my standard care instructions and logo and the right with our slogan “KEEP THE TRADE ALIVE”. I love the bold graphic, it adds a completely different element to the inside of the jeans. This pair also has the only leather patch the actually says Rogue Territory. Hot washed 3 times with no detergent and hung out to dry.

In Rotation: My 5 month old Dark Stantons. This is a 13.5oz indigo warp, black weft denim from Kurabo Mills. It has such a rich and deep navy color. What I particularly love is that this denim will change color drastically over the life of the jeans. It starts off super dark but as you break the indigo down, the denim will start to change color. The white of the warp yarns core will start to peek through and when you wash it, the dark navy will get lighter with varying shades of blue. I can’t wait! No washes or soaks.

In Rotation: My RGTxIDC Stealth Stantons, the most recent addition to my collection. These are a 15oz black warp, grey weft selvedge denim from Nihon Menpu. The denim is so beefy and rigid. I love the feel and the texture. I’ve been wearing them non-stop now since mid-October and they just keep getting better looking. The denim is starting to shine up, and finally break down ever so slightly. They’re a nice change from my regular indigo denim and I can’t wait to see how these break in over the next few months.

Rogue Territory is available in our store and online.

Recently, WhoWhatWear made a video love letter to this cotton standout and it’s got us rooting for fall. Take a peek, get some outfit inspiration, and shop our selection of women’s denim here.

You may have heard these two names before, as Imogene + Willie have a loyal fan following both in and outside of the Music City. The Eddmensons’ keep their operation small, with a goal of bringing their customers back to the heritage of blue jeans. Styles and fits are named for family members, and craftsmanship and hard work are still the most prominent factors in Carrie and Matt’s denim.

Imogene + Willie jeans are now in store, and are waiting for you to make them your own. Each pair starts out as a blank canvas; you have to do a bit of work to bring out the art that waits inside them. The age and wear over time is where the true character of the denim lies. With slightly wide-set back pockets and stretch in all the right places, the Imogene Slim Stretch and Hazel Low Skinny are two ways to treat your curves right.

Shop Imogene + Willie here.

Jeffrey Ocampo and Sean OʼHara of Wide Eyes recently visited Ashley James, the mild mannered gal behind Ruell & Ray, in Bristol, Tennessee, where she works out of the historic Pointer factory. They got a chance to see her dedication to making quality products, and the amount of hard work and real hands-on labor that goes into making a single pair of jeans. Ruell and Ray is a real American-made brand that we stand behind 100%, and fully support the hustle and amount of pride that goes into every step of the process.

Learn more about that process and Ashley herself over at Wide Eyes, and shop Ruell & Ray here.

Photos by Jeffrey Ocampo

When it comes to denim, there’s a big difference between summer and winter. Humans’s move, especially in the summer. And when human’s move, humans tend to perspire (go figure). One of our go to pairs of jeans for the warmer months of the year is the 10.5 ounce Wilson Trouser from Raleigh Denim. This particular model is made from a tropical weight selvedge, ring spun indigo canvas with white and red selvage woven at the legendary Cone Mills While Oak plant in Greensboro, NC. The perfect choice in our eyes.

The beauty with these is the weight. Roll the cuffs and throw on your favorite pair of summer shoes, they’re going to work perfectly. They’re a “wear all day and into the night” type of trouser that are going to give you the same wear that thicker denim will, but without the weight.

Fashion consultant Nick Wooster, is pictured in this post wearing the Wilson Trouser which is one of the 12 pairs of jeans that he owns. Mr. Wooster also gives us a little breakdown on his thoughts and opinion on denim over at Refinery 29. It’s a nice little read from a style expert.

Shop the Raleigh Denim Wilson Trouser.

A few weekends ago, we started off our Meet The Maker series with Billy Moore of Cause and Effect and Ashley James of Ruell and Ray. Billy and Ashley made an in-store appearance and demonstrated their craft and knowledge to anyone who cared to see. Over the course of the weekend, we took Billy down to the James River, where he beat out leather to produce a set of unique belts for the shop. Check out our video recap of the event, and get Billy’s take on Richmond.