The Name Was Waiting: Josh Sirlin on Bringing Back Black Bear Brand
The Name Was Waiting: Josh Sirlin on Bringing Back Black Bear Brand
A storied Seattle name had gone quiet. Thirteen years ago I brought it back.
Before the Bear
Before Black Bear Brand my life was skate, ski, surf, and streetwear. I did wild independent creative projects for some of the biggest names in those worlds, and I took part in every antic that came with them. I rode vintage motorcycles, and I designed wherever I went.
The Name
The original Black Bear Brand was founded by George G. Black in Seattle at the turn of the twentieth century, at First and Jackson. The company made denim, wool jackets, shirting, and corduroy. Its signs carried a line I have never forgotten: Black Bear Means Long Wear.
Then the name went quiet. Thirteen years ago I found it dormant and unowned, and I brought it back. Black Bear Brand has been based in the United States ever since. Five years ago we set up Black Bear Brand Japan, our Japanese entity.
What Bringing It Back Meant
It never meant copying old clothes. It meant carrying the spirit forward. We buy cloth from the finest mills. We choose sewing rooms for where a piece can be made best. Our denim is woven in Okayama. Our Harris Tweed is woven by hand in Scotland. Our horsehide is tanned at Horween in Chicago. Our 30oz terry is cut and sewn in Seattle.
I like to stand next to people who are the very best in the world at one thing. That has become the whole method. Today there are men's and women's collections, and new pieces arrive every month. The clothes are made to be kept and passed down.
The Old Bear on a New Shirt
One piece carries the old company straight into the present. The Original LOGO T wears the historic Black Bear graphic used from the 1920s through the 1950s. It is designed, cut, sewn, and printed in Seattle, in 9oz cotton, in our own custom green tint with a water discharged dye that sinks into the cloth.
Black Bear Means Long Wear. Thirteen years in, it still does. The rest of the story is in the Black Bear Brand Factory Store, one piece at a time.
A Way Of Life.
Shop the Story
The Black Bear Brand Factory Store
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