A boyfriend jean is the easiest jean to look great in, and the easiest to look sloppy in. Josh Sirlin decodes the relaxed denim family and how to wear it right.
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Every good idea I have ever had came from somewhere else. Josh Sirlin on how travel and other people’s cultures shape creative work, from Okayama to the Outer Hebrides.
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Everyone says Japan bought America’s old denim looms. Mostly, that is a myth. Josh Sirlin on the Union Special machines, the Toyoda looms, and why the craft really lives in Okayama.
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Dragons and koi born from woodblock prints, applied by hand, one session at a time. Josh Sirlin on irezumi, the tebori craft, and getting tattooed in Tokyo.
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Most sweatshirts are ten ounces and gone in a year. Ours is thirty, made in the USA and cut and sewn in Seattle. Josh Sirlin on why weight matters.
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Born on French farms, stolen by artists, and still the most useful jacket you can own. Josh Sirlin on the chore coat, and the Harris Tweed version he dreamed about for years.
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Black Bear Brand is not a new label with an old look. It is a real Seattle company from the early 1900s, with a real factory and a real slogan, that Josh Sirlin spent a decade bringing back.
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Cheap clothes are the most expensive clothes you will ever buy. Josh Sirlin on building a wardrobe of fewer, better pieces that age into the best things you own.
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Josh Sirlin rides a 1948 Panhead that has outlived almost everything built since. Here is what a 76-year-old chopper taught him about designing clothes worth keeping.
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One brand, two homes, and a bolt of Scottish wool in between. Josh Sirlin on why Black Bear Brand is designed in Seattle and built in Okayama.
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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.
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Not pink, not beige, a dusty worn-in rose that looks like it already has a history. Josh Sirlin on how we mixed the Black Bear Brand original, Vintage Rose.
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The best travel clothes work as hard as you do and look better the more you wear them. Josh Sirlin on the wardrobe that earns its place on the road.
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Tokyo may be the best-dressed city on earth. Josh Sirlin on what a decade of design trips taught him about Japanese style, from the Okayama mills to Tokyo backstreets.
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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.
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Women built the American jean, then spent sixty years borrowing it before anyone cut one for them. Josh Sirlin on women, denim, and the premium Okayama selvedge behind Black Bear Brand WOMAN.
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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.
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Almost all denim is dyed with synthetic indigo. Josh Sirlin on the plant-derived blue that came first — and the 13oz Okayama jeans built around it.
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No garment has traveled further than the blue jean: from the mine shaft to the runway. Josh Sirlin on how work pants conquered fashion, and how to wear them well.
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The pearl snap wasn't a style choice — it was a safety device. Josh Sirlin on the smartest fastener in menswear, and how to buy a snap shirt worth keeping.
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