friendship kick started from shared interests; grown by sharing our differences… and fueled by a passion for the exceptional!
the journey has just begun….
photographed by: Bradley Wentzel
friendship kick started from shared interests; grown by sharing our differences… and fueled by a passion for the exceptional!
the journey has just begun….
photographed by: Bradley Wentzel
Join Brent Underwood as he discovers a Black Bear Brand jacket in a 100 yr. old abandoned California mine!
Another BlackBearBrand... ghost sign was found!
A JOURNEY FUELED BY HUMAN CONNECTION AND CREATIVE EXPLORATION with the IWC Journal
A designer should embrace adventure, leaping at opportunities to travel, collaborate, and to find inspiration. Exploration, learning, and human connection are paramount to me. The quest is driven by a passion for design, materials, processes, and uncompromising details, which often leads to the places where ruggedness, beauty and romance collide. - Josh Sirlin
Japan is captivating! It was the third year of the resurrection of the 100-year-old Black Bear Brand that I first visited Tokyo to create with some amazing craftsmen. Those business relationships quickly led to some very strong friendships. Early on, I was invited to visit Free Way Custom Motorcycles in the city of Oita for a vintage motorcycle ride. I have since become close friends Kenichi Mizutani, a legend for building custom and antique motorcycles. Like many that I’ve collaborated with in Japan, Kenichi is uncompromising in his craft. Read the complete story on the IWC Journal.
Standard Of The West.
The journey of resurrecting a 100 yr. old brand.
art by: Nicholas Coleman
The Black Bear Brand resurrection story is fueled by the romance of the west. We are the cowboy, we are the biker, we are the artist, we are the adventurer; and we require a deep connection with everything we invite into our lives.
The journey of resurrecting a 100+ yr. old brand ~ The Black Bear Brand resurrection story is fueled by the romance of the west. We are the cowboy, we are the biker, we are the artist, we are the adventurer; and we require a deep connection with everything we invite into our lives.
Water Testing Our Collaboration Surfboard…
I was paddling out with Jason Tilley of Tilley Surfboards for our first session with a collaboration board we created. The marine layer was thick and the ocean and sky were separated only by their slight variation of grey, blurring the boundary between the two. The morning was cool and the water was still warm enough that wearing a hood was a preference and not a necessity. We paddled out into chest high rollers.
Anticipating the next wave with such reduced visibility required focus, and so I missed the full meaning of something Tilley said to me while we were waiting for the next set. He wanted me to look at something off to my right but I didn’t see much.
I’ve heard stories about how one sense is enhanced by a deficit in another, and maybe it was the uniformity of the environment that deprived me of crisp vision, but either way the first I caught of it was the smell. It was overwhelming. It was as if the ordinary smell of the ocean had intensified a hundred-fold. Not rotten—just the smell of bait fish, maybe shrimp, and of salt in the air. And then I saw it: the top of a massive whale. I’m unsure what kind it was, but I was close enough to feel the pressure of the water it parted as it moved by. I’m unsure why it came so close to shore. Perhaps it was curious about what we were doing.
- josh sirlin
Built For a Life Well Lived.
photography by: Chad Lyons
a century old family owned tannery - unwavering curiosity - a quest to create something special
Built For A Life Well Lived
I find it is essential to our brand that we at Black Manufacturing be personally engaged in every step of the making of our products from concept, to design, material selection, and production. When we work with others, we become closely familiar with those people. We become as involved as possible with the people behind the process, behind making. They are often the heartbeat of what makes these products special. We study and embrace the practices and the history of their companies. To us, the process of making is our story.
When I first began my exploration of leather I reached out to Horween Tannery knowing their reputation for excellence. This relationship has developed into something I never could’ve imagined. I consider myself very fortunate for their guidance and expertise. We at Black Bear Brand strive to offer items of the highest quality, and the people at Horween Leather Co. are a great partner to us on our journey.
- Back in 2016 -
We’ve worked with Horween on several Black Bear Brand products; a visit was past due. So, when an opportunity recently came about, I was excited to take it. The timing was perfect. We’d just completed the samples of each of our 4 upcoming boots, Nick and I were working on a design for a Horween shirt, and my friend (and Black Bear Brand Photographer) Chad Lyons also happened to be passing through the Midwest. The stars had aligned, and so I shot off for Chicago.
The Horween Tannery is in an industrial area of North Chicago. When I got there that morning, I was taken away by their presence there. The Horween family has been operating here through 5 generations and for more than a century. The tannery is imposing. It’s all brick, with an unassuming, plain wood door for the entrance. There is a small sign outside, that is the only indication you’re at the right spot. The door opens to a small wood stairway that leads to a small waiting room. Everything about the entrance to the tannery is right down to business. It’s direct and purposeful, there is nothing added for flair. There are two church style pews facing each other and a dumbwaiter door where the receptionist greets you. I could feel the history here as I sat waiting; the essence of a place like Horween can’t be replicated.
Nick grabbed us from the waiting room and off we went. He took us through each step of the tanning. We started in the receiving area, where the hides, hair and all. are delivered by truck. The attention to detail was immediately apparent. Every single hide is closely gone over and separated. The separated hides are then sent off with a specific tanning method, and even customer, in mind. Every detail is taken into consideration for the sake of quality.
The tannery nearly overwhelms the senses. The moment I walked in the door I was overtaken by a scent that brought to mind an old scotch I used to drink. Walking into the receiving room, where the natural hides come off the trucks, a heavy, deathly type of smell fills the air. During waxing, oiling, and glazing, you pass pungent odors and then soothing scents. The classic smell of leather is almost pervasive. Some leather types require a good amount of heat, and there are different liquids throughout the place. All these things happening together produce an actual sensory overload.
Each step of the tanning method is involved and they do it at a scale that’s impressive. The Horween Tannery is the real deal; they have been doing it forever and have always stayed true to who they are. In fact, there are chalkboards hanging on walls with recipes written on them that look as if they could’ve been there since the beginning. I believe it’s rare to be able to hang onto all the specialness of doing something the same way, and at such an exceptional level for so long, never losing your true character by giving into technology or fads. Horween Leather Company is timeless. That’s not by a marketing design. Instead, it’s because that’s how true they are. They simply do what they know works, and by just doing that simple thing, they are totally killer.
I feel a connection to the Horween approach. They have a connection to their process and their product that is unmatched; its motivating and inspiring. Skip and Nick Horween, and their deep generational love, devotion, and knowledge to the world of leather, have shown me unlimited future possibilities for the brand I represent.
The unwavering need to work with, learn from, and team with the best is what initially drew me to Horween. Black Bear Brand is about learning by doing—being engaged in each process. We design and work with a purpose, and we have a vision to work with others that share a goal to elevate others in producing great items. In getting to know Horween Leather Co., that is exactly what has come to be. The more I learn from them, the more I realize how much I’m unaware of. The more we learn, the better we become at Black Manufacturing.
After making our way through the tannery, we had a chance to sit down and share a little more of what each of our companies do. Horween’s office is scattered with cool stuff, including a handful of NFL footballs that Wilson has been making out of their leather for nearly a century. I brought some of upcoming pieces from our Fall/Winter jacket collection that I thought they’d dig. It was a fun opportunity to share in person some of our stuff that no one has seen yet.
My process of design is what I call “curating.” It’s a process that involves multiple parties…
The end or just the beginning.
Photography by: Chad Lyons
The art of tattoo in Japan is complex. Although tattoos are normal now in most parts of the world it still has complicated social representations in Japan. It has a romantic history as a forbidden art that’s exclusive for an outlaw society. This reputation has truths in its history, but its much more complex than that. It is an unwaveringly soulful art that’s traditions and rituals are second to none. It would take a lifetime to scratch the surface of its complexity.
Japan is beautifully unique in so many ways; even the largest city in the world operates so orderly and clean. The magnitude of the Coronavirus epidemic was still masked in most of the world at this stage. There was a higher than normal level of caution throughout the city, but Japan was still operating in its hyper orderly and clean way.
March 17th, I arrive in Tokyo for the second leg of my bi-annual trip to Japan for work, riding motorcycles and creative exploration. In addition to business, my ritual in Tokyo includes my continued journey into the historical art of Japanese tattoo with one of the worlds masters.
Now come join me on my 4th session with master Horitoshi 1.
The spiritual essence overtakes you when you enter the studio. Every step from that moment your immersed in the ritual.
- Photography by our friend: Jun, Obi
- Artist - Masters of Tebori, Horitoshi 1.
~ An actual 100 year old coverall from our archive collection.
~ An original Black Bear Brand mailer catalog from 1918.
~ A celebration of the Black Bear Brand coverall in the current issue of Hail Mary Magazine.
The resurrection story… of a century old American brand, the ride fueled by the romance, anarchy, and chaos of the west.
Black Bear Brand... Built for a life well lived!
Early am... Harlem, captured by: Dean Chooch Landry on his 100 year old Graflex camera.
The Snoqualmie Pass was first mentioned by the Native Americans to Capt. George B. McClellan in September 1853, while he was surveying for a route across the Cascades. He was guided across at Yakima Pass (from the east, and after a short distance turned back), he was told that Snoqualmie Pass, was "seldom used" and "practicable on foot with the greatest difficulty". Every route he explored over the mountains, he declared unpassable... several of which were later travelled successfully.
A perfect combination of pragmatism, utility, and style. Horween Horsehide shoulder yoke and Wax Cotton/Nylon body... packed with 700 goose down fill! Black Bear Brand in collaboration with Crescent Down Works.
Pipeburn Interview with Josh…