Whiskers, honeycombs, atari, train tracks. Josh Sirlin on the vocabulary of a worn pair of jeans, and on the dye decisions made years before you ever put them on.
Read More
There is one morning every August when the air turns. Josh Sirlin on the jean jacket coming off the hook, the white tee under it, and the tweed waiting after October.
Read More
Weight is the number everyone quotes and almost nobody understands. Josh Sirlin on ounces, grams, and what a fabric weight can and cannot tell you.
Read More
Green was the hardest color in the world to make, and then it was the deadliest. Josh Sirlin on arsenic, Victorian dye houses, and what a real green still costs.
Read More
Down is the best insulation on earth and the least understood. Josh Sirlin on fill power, cluster size, and the vest built for a Pacific Northwest winter.
Read More
Flip your cuff. That pale thread is the weft, and it decides more than you think. Josh Sirlin on twill, slub, and the hidden half of denim.
Read More
Harris Tweed is the only cloth in the world defended by its own Act of Parliament. Josh Sirlin on the Orb, the islands, and what tartan really was.
Read More
You cannot buy these colors. Josh Sirlin on creating custom dye colors for Black Bear Brand, the garment wash that follows, and why no two pairs come out the same.
Read More
Indigo is the only dye that leaves on purpose. Josh Sirlin on Japanese indigo, rope dyeing, and the reason blue jeans tell you where you have been.
Read More
Most people think fashion design is sketching pretty clothes. It is not. It is problem solving. Josh Sirlin on how he designs every Black Bear Brand piece.
Read More
The pocket bags in our WOMAN jeans are rose red and nobody will ever see them. Josh Sirlin on hidden details, the Edo merchants banned from looking rich, and why the best part of a garment is the part you keep to yourself.
Read More
Most men get beach style wrong, all loud prints and flimsy fabric gone in a summer. Josh Sirlin on ease with real substance underneath.
Read More
The country that saved great denim has a way with it that women everywhere are borrowing. Josh Sirlin on women, denim, and Black Bear Brand WOMAN made in Okayama.
Read More
The self-edge is a mark of how denim was woven. Sanforized means it fits true and stays there. Josh Sirlin on selvedge, the beauty of fit, and the story a great pair of jeans tells over the years.
Read More
We took the cloth of kings, cut it in our boyfriend fit, and dyed it a rose you will not find anywhere else. Josh Sirlin on Black Bear Brand WOMAN corduroy in Vintage Rose.
Read More
Heat is where most wardrobes fall apart into cheap synthetics. Josh Sirlin on how to stay cool in real clothes — linen, slub, open weaves, and shorts with dignity.
Read More
In a small corner of Japan, a handful of artisans keep vintage shuttle looms alive — machines the rest of the world scrapped. Inside the lost art that makes the finest denim on earth.
Read More
An extra layer of cloth across the thighs and knees. It's the least glamorous detail in workwear and one of the smartest — here's why.
Read More
Every pair of blue jeans owes its color to one of the oldest, most magical dyes in history. Understanding indigo is the key to understanding why great denim fades the way it does — and why we chase the best of it in Japan.
Read More
Born on French rail lines and farms as the "bleu de travail," the chore coat is the most quietly perfect work jacket ever made. Its history — and why it never goes out of style.
Read More