DenimHunt

Chip & Pepper Launch Price Conscious 'Mill Iron'

Chip and Pepper Foster, the Los Angeles-based, premium denim gurus, are expanding to offer a price-conscious denim collection called Mill Iron. Mill Iron is inspired by the California prospectors, cattle ranchers and pioneer dungarees of the 1800's and named after a Mill Iron, California trading post founded by the twin's grandfather. 

Initially, the line will offer two men's styles including "Sunraider", a relaxed leg button-fly and "Rally", a relaxed five-pocket straight leg zipper-fly, with plans to expand. Creating a buzz even among the celebrity elite, Mill Iron has traditional Chip + Pepper fans requesting advance orders, including NHL hall of famer Jeremy Roenick.

 

“We see the need for premium denim at an affordable price,” said Pepper Foster. “The Mill Iron collection offers customers a great value with the amazing quality and fit expected from Chip + Pepper."

 

“We’re making a correction and pulling back in pricing,” added Chip Foster. “People can get a great jean and not get gouged.”

 

Mill Iron will be available starting July 10, 2009 at Buckle stores nationwide and will retail from $98 to $110.

Aéropostale Begins Opening "P.S. from Aéropostale" Store for Tweens

Aéropostale's new tween brand P.S. from Aéropostale just opened its first store in the Palisades Mall in West Nyack, New York. It's the beginning of nine-store rollout introducing the brand to the NY Metropolitan area.

The P.S. brand is aimed at girls and boys aged 7-12 years old and includes graphic tees, jeans and dresses. The waistband of the jeans were brought up an inch than those offered at the Aéropostale stores to make them more acceptable to mothers. 

If the P.S. brand proves successful, expect to see a 500 store expansion in the future. 

Megan Fox in Fidelity Denim

Hot new brand alert! Megan Fox was spotted around LA keeping it simple in a t-shirt and jeans. Did I say keeping it simple? I take that back. She transformed your standard ensemble into something quite cool and it was all in the jeans. Sporting Fidelity Denim's Octavia Jean in the Bondai wash, Fox demonstrated the versatility of the flare leg. Normally we see this silhouette dressed up very sophisticatedly, however, Fox successfully pulled off casual cool in a fit that's not too tight or too loose. 

G-Star Opens Amsterdam Flagship

Dutch-brand G-Star has just opened its first flagship store in Amsterdam. Though based in Amsterdam, this is their first company-owned store in the city and at almost 6,000 square feet, is their largest flagship to date. The store includes features like a denim wall starting at the basement and stretching all the way to the mezzanine. The G-Star design aesthetic is also seen in the combination of materials used such as glass, galvanized steel and concrete. 

The core product is available on the ground and basement floors, however their NY RAW couture line will be located in the VIP lounge in the mezzanine.

(images courtesy of DazedDigital.com)

Levi's 'White Hot' Event A White Hot Success

To showcase The Levi's® Brand's white-hot styles for spring and summer, teams of Levi's® models

dressed in all white - including the original white jean, the Button-fly 501® - strolled the streets of 

Times Square on Memorial Day. The models invited New Yorkers and tourists to participate in a special 

shopping event and offered them a chance to win a white, limited-edition Levi's iPod shuffle

(images courtesy of Sara Jaye Weiss)

Blue Blood Opens New Store in Capetown BS 104

Dutch denim brand Blue Blood opened a new flagship store in Capetown, their fifth store worldwide and another step in their plan to expand internationally. The new store is located on Bree Straat in Dowtown Capetown in an old Dutch Reformed Church. 

"We are staying close to our roots" says Sales Director Alex Jaspers. "The interior design is inspired by the Amsterdam-based Love For Denim store in Prinsen Straat."

The store will be nicknamed BS104 as all Blue Blood stores are named after the abbreviation of their address. This name will be used on the limited edition shopping bags, t-shirts and other items. 

Levi's Memorial Day 'White Hot' Event in Times Square

The Levi’s® brand celebrates the beginning of summer in the city with a “White Hot” Memorial Day shopping event outside the Levi’s® Times Square Store in NYC and everyone is invited!

To showcase the Levi’s® brand’s white-hot styles for spring and summer, teams of Levi’s® models dressed in all white will stroll the streets of Times Square inviting everyone to participate in a special shopping event. Anyone who visits the Levi’s® Times Square store from May 21 through May 28 will receive a 40% discount on select Levi’s® product. 

To sweeten the event, on Memorial Day only, Levi’s® customers and passersby will also have a chance to win a white Levi’s® branded i-Pod shuffle. Anyone walking by the Levi’s® Times Square store from 10 AM to 6 PM will be handed a special white cassette tape (while supplies last) by Levi’s®-clad models. People will be encouraged to go into the Levi’s® store to play their cassette on a boom-box to determine if they have won one of more than 100 i-Pod shuffles the Levi’s® brand will give away throughout the day!

30 Belt Loops by Screaming Mimi's

According to RackedWire, Noho vintage staple Screaming Mimi's is celebrating their 30 year anniversary by releasing a pair of jeans featuring thirty belt loops. Obviously inspired by vintage jeans, they were designed by former Heatherette designer Mack Dugan. 

Cult of Individuality

New denim line, Cult of Individuality, launched Spring 2009 and has quickly made a name for itself with worn-in washes reminiscent of that old, perfectly worn, pair of jeans.

Founder and designer Ron Poisson had a surf-inspired t-shirt line at age 17. Two decades later, after honing his skills in sales and merchandising in the menswear market, he has brought his years of expertise to create a denim line that is the manifestation of his laid-back fashion sense. 

There are a wide range of washes from uber-faded, raw and destructed denim all in silhouettes that can be worn with blazers or pullovers; button-up shirts or tees; from day to night. 

You can find Cult of Individuality at notable retailers such as M Frederic, Fred Segal, MetroPark, E Street Denim, Tobi.com, South Moon Under, and Nordstrom.

The Relaunch of 1969 at Gap

Gap creative director, Patrick Robinson, is continuing in his mission to return the iconic American brand to its position as a leader in denim. After a year and a half in the making, Gap's design team, under the leadership of Robinson, revamped the entire 1969 collection to come up with a denim line that would be competitive against premium brands that retail upwards of $150. The line includes an extra long bootcut, skinnies, boyfriend jeans and other popular trends. We wanted to make Gap denim relevant and cool again," says Robinson at Monday's, April 20th relaunch. The line will debut in stores Fall 2009 and will retail at a recession-friendly $69.