Conquest

It may come as a surprise to none one that I am a bit of a denim s(k)nob; I enjoy raw selvedge, and a lot of it. No doubt that one of my most cherished possessions, are my original gen-1 ROY jeans (below). If you haven't yet heard of ROY, please refer to any of the million blogs that have written about him and his new-found success (Hypebeast, Denim Debate, YHBTI, Denim Geek, Free/Man, the 189, etc).

Roy's Jeans - Video by Self Edge from Self Edge on Vimeo.

Roy Slaper is basically a one man army working out of Oakland, CA. He began with a single straight/slightly loose cut that he hand crafted to order. After a much needed summer hiatus, Roy is now collaborating with SelfEdge on 2 cuts (vid above).

/pride

I was very lucky to be one of the lucky few to get the gen-1 before he shut down production. I got them as a graduation present to myself this summer, and due to their heavier weight (14oz.), I have not been wearing them as much as I would like, favoring the 12.5oz Tellasons. What impressed me most about dealing with Roy, was the very personal attention to detail that he devoted to each pair he crafted. I exchanged about 15 emails and a phone call with him until I got the right size that would shrink to be perfect for me.

This personal treatment is most important to me. It feels like the company (no matter how large) actually considers the consumer an individual, and not just someone targeting a consumer group who "is unique in character and who likes being made to feel special". Some companies that I particularly enjoyed dealing on a personal level with are (in order of labels in the pic above): Tellason, ROY, Levis, Tanner, Jcrew, Hamilton. Even with large corporations like Levis and Jcrew, I find that if you take the time and talk to people, they will take care of you really well.

Another important factor I look for: made in America. Everyone's mad about international outsourcing? Do something about it. For a pretty complete list of awesome looking clothing and accessories made in America please refer to Michael Williams' great website: A Continuous Lean.