The Northern Dream Jacket Starts With the Hide

Before the lambskin, the quilting and the snaps, there is the hide. Josh Sirlin on Horween horsehide and where the Northern Dream jacket begins.

Craft & Materials, Heritage, Fabric Guide, Jackets, made in usa, Style, leatherJosh SirlinOctober 9, 2026northern dream jacket, horween horsehide, horsehide jacket, shearling jacket, long curl lambskin, leather jacket, vegetable tanned leather, made in usa, black bear brand, josh sirlinComment

Leadership Is Standing Next to the Best

Shackleton brought every man home. A chain stitch artist has given twenty five years to one craft. Josh Sirlin on leadership, craftsmanship, and the ART Edition varsity jacket.

The Cowboy Never Left: Western Style Then and Now

The cattle drives lasted about twenty years. The style has lasted a hundred and fifty. Josh Sirlin on vaqueros, Black cowboys, Yellowstone, and the Indigo Cowboy Jeans.

Denim, Heritage, Culture, Style & HeritageJosh SirlinOctober 3, 2026cowboy fashion, western style, cowboy history, vaquero, black cowboys, yellowstone style, cowboy jeans, commander jacket, roughout jacket, black bear brandComment

The Name Was Waiting: Josh Sirlin on Bringing Back Black Bear Brand

A Seattle name from the turn of the twentieth century had gone quiet. Thirteen years ago Josh Sirlin brought it back. The story, the method, and the Original LOGO T.

Culture, Heritage, StyleJosh SirlinOctober 2, 2026josh sirlin, black bear brand history, george g black, seattle brand, brand revival, black bear means long wear, american brand, black bear brand japan, original logo tComment

Black Bear Brand Opens in Tokyo: Our First Pop Up in Japan

Friday the doors open on the first Black Bear Brand pop up in Japan. Three days in Tokyo, the vintage engineer pant and coat in person for the first time, and a COMMANDER roughout jacket sold only in the room. Josh Sirlin on why it had to be Tokyo.

Culture, events, Heritage, JapanJosh SirlinOctober 1, 2026black bear brand pop up, tokyo pop up, ebisu, black bear brand japan, josh sirlin, vintage engineer pant, hunter green peacoat, commander jacket, roughout jacket, ichirotaComment

Denim and Long Curl Lambskin: The Coat for When Fall Turns

Indigo cloth, a wild curled collar, and two of the oldest materials in the wardrobe in one coat. Josh Sirlin on denim and sheepskin, long curl lambskin, and the botanical indigo denim winter coat.

Craft & Materials, Denim, design, Heritage, jacketsJosh SirlinSeptember 29, 2026denim and shearling, long curl lambskin, sheepskin coat, denim winter coat, fall jacket men, botanical indigo denim, northern dream jacket, lambskin jacket, black bear brandComment

The Fisherman Sweater: A True Story Better Than the Legend

The clan pattern legend is not true. What really happened is better. Josh Sirlin on the Aran sweater, why wool owns the cold, and a merino fisherman sweater knit in northern Japan.

Craft, Culture, Heritage, StyleJosh SirlinSeptember 27, 2026fisherman sweater, aran sweater history, cable knit sweater, merino wool sweater, winter fashion men, winter style, knit in japan, josh sirlin, black bear brandComment

Midnight Glen

The glen check came out of one Scottish valley in the 1840s and never left. Josh Sirlin on the pattern, and on the Midnight Glen Tartan Harris Tweed coming to Black Bear Brand.

Craft & Materials, Culture, Fabric, Fabric Guide, harris tweed, Heritage, JacketsJosh SirlinSeptember 26, 2026glen check, glen plaid, glenurquhart check, prince of wales check, midnight glen tartan, harris tweed, tweed pattern, black bear brandComment

The Engineer Stripe

A striped cloth that belonged to this company and to no one else, on a garment that is about a hundred and ten years old. Josh Sirlin on the archive, and on what is coming with TCB.

Craft, Heritage, Japan, JacketsJosh SirlinSeptember 23, 2026engineer stripe, hickory stripe, black bear brand history, vintage archive, 1917 catalog, tcb collaboration, seattle history, black bear brandComment

Twenty Hours of Thread

Four days of chain stitching, white cowhide sleeves, melton wool, and eight months of production. Josh Sirlin on the ART Edition varsity jacket, on display in Tokyo on October 2.

Craft, Craft & Materials, Culture, design, Heritage, jackets, JapanJosh SirlinSeptember 22, 2026varsity jacket, chain stitch varsity jacket, melton wool jacket, made in japan jacket, bespoke varsity, tokyo pop up, limited edition jacket, black bear brandComment

Woven at Home

The loom is pedalled like a bicycle, in the weaver's own house, on an island in the North Atlantic. Josh Sirlin on what hand woven actually means on a Harris Tweed.

Craft, Craft & Materials, Culture, Fabric, Fabric Guide, harris tweed, Heritage, JacketsJosh SirlinSeptember 21, 2026harris tweed, hand woven tweed, outer hebrides, hattersley loom, orb mark, treadle loom, wool jacket, black bear brandComment

The Peacoat, and a Green I Made

A vintage coat worn for a decade, refined until there was nothing left to argue with. Josh Sirlin on the peacoat, on the custom hunter green, and on September 22.

Craft & Materials, Fabric, jackets, Heritage, outerwear, Style, Style & HeritageJosh SirlinSeptember 20, 2026peacoat, wool peacoat, hunter green peacoat, melton wool coat, made in japan coat, anchor buttons, mens outerwear, black bear brandComment

One Pocket

The name is not a boast. It is a count. Josh Sirlin on the ONE Jean Jacket, on warp density, and on the years spent looking for denim worth cutting.

Denim, Jackets, materials, Craft, Heritage, CultureJosh SirlinSeptember 18, 2026jean jacket, denim jacket, selvedge jean jacket, one jean jacket, trucker jacket, made in japan denim, rope dyed, black bear brandComment

Midnight Glen, Wildflower, Moss Fire

Three new Harris Tweeds are woven for Black Bear Brand in Scotland every year, and Josh Sirlin makes three jackets from them. Here are this fall's three, starting with the Midnight Glen Tartan.

Craft, Craft & Materials, Fabric, harris tweed, Heritage, Jackets, made in usa, outerwearJosh SirlinSeptember 17, 2026harris tweed, midnight glen tartan, wildflower tartan, moss fire tartan, chore coat, zip coat, outer hebrides, made in seattle, black bear brandComment

The Art of Chainstitching

One thread, one needle, one hand turning a crank under the table. Josh Sirlin on the 1865 machine that still cannot be improved on, and on four days of stitching one jacket.

Craft & Materials, Culture, Heritage, Jackets, Japan & Culture, StyleJosh SirlinSeptember 16, 2026chain stitch embroidery, chainstitch, cornely machine, moss stitch, chenille, varsity jacket embroidery, hand guided embroidery, black bear brandComment

Shell Cordovan, the Slowest Leather in the World

Six months, about a hundred steps, and a piece of the animal roughly the size of two shoes. Josh Sirlin on shell cordovan and the Black Bear Brand western wallet. Black Bear Brand very special shell cordovan boots.

Craft & Materials, Heritage, leather, made in usaJosh SirlinSeptember 14, 2026shell cordovan, horween cordovan, cordovan wallet, leather goods, mens wallet, black bear brand accessoriesComment

Waxed Canvas Came Off the Sails

Sailors noticed that wet sails pulled better, and a cloth was born out of it. Josh Sirlin on the history of waxed cotton and the Black Bear Brand wax canvas jackets.

Craft & Materials, Fabric, Fabric Guide, Heritage, jackets, made in usa, outerwearJosh SirlinSeptember 13, 2026waxed canvas, waxed cotton history, wax canvas jacket, quilted jacket, mens outerwear, black bear brand jacketsComment

The Peacoat, in Hunter Green

Josh Sirlin wore one vintage peacoat for more than ten years, then made the one he actually wanted. A first look at the Hunter Green, a custom color worked out with the mill, releasing September 22.

Craft & Materials, Culture, design, Fabric, Heritage, jackets, StyleJosh SirlinSeptember 10, 2026peacoat, hunter green, japanese wool, aichi ichinomiya, anchor buttons, made in japan, custom color, tokyo pop up, black bear brandComment

Black Bear Brand Comes to Tokyo

The first Black Bear Brand pop-up in Japan opens in Ebisu on the second, third and fourth of October. Josh Sirlin on Tokyo, the collection, and the pieces coming with it.

Black Bear Brand WOMAN, Culture, Heritage, Japan & Culture, Japan, menswearJosh SirlinSeptember 8, 2026black bear brand tokyo, tokyo pop up, ebisu tokyo, black bear brand japan, japan pop up, 東京ポップアップComment

The Engineer Stripe: A Cloth Brought Back From 1913

A hundred year old stripe, read off an original coverall and woven again in Okayama. Josh Sirlin on the Black Bear Brand engineer stripe and the vintage engineer pant and coat.

Craft, Fabric, Heritage, Japan, Japan & Culture, materialsJosh SirlinSeptember 6, 2026engineer stripe, tcb jeans, okayama japan, vintage black bear brand, engineer pant, hajime inoueComment