Willie's in the barn again.......
Our good friend and pickin guru, Mike Wolfe is at it again. He's been barn diving in his Willie's. Check out Mikes' show American Pickers monday night at 8 on the History Channel.
Here is some of Mike's testimonies about his jeans.....i love it!
"Beating the $h#@ out of your Jeans In Rhode Island."
"These (censored) jeans are bullet proof dude."
M
Here is some of Mike's testimonies about his jeans.....i love it!
"Beating the $h#@ out of your Jeans In Rhode Island."
"These (censored) jeans are bullet proof dude."
M
our inspiration.
once upon a time in 1998, my brother sent me on my first trend watching and shopping trip abroad.
amsterdam, paris, barcelona, london.
i went with a mentor named mary, who was and still is a guru in the denim world.
i packed my suitcase with too many cute tops and good jeans, plus some skirts and dresses, and far too many toiletries.
this was years before the suitcase weight limit or baggage fee was enforced by the airlines. but nevertheless, my brother came to check my suitcase the night before and said, "oh no. this is NOT what you are taking".
how dare he re-pack me.....but he was my boss!
the very colorful and textural assortment was removed from the suitcase and replaced with:
one pair of rigid jeans and white t-shirts. and just ONE sweater?! what the hell?
i wasn't a boy! i wasn't like HIM!
he said, "leave the white t-shirts over there. it will open space in your suitcase to bring more things home".
i went a little over board with the bringing things home part..... but that is another story.
that night's re-pack remains with me as one of the thousands of lessons that my brother taught me.
that started my journey of wearing jeans in. the real way. (i didn't say the right way.... there are many "right" ways.)
it did not only aid in the development of my understanding of denim, both the fabrics and the fits - but it also was the beginning of building a personal collection.
my collection is weak compared to my brother's and my husband's. i still occasionally slip back into..... "fashion".
but, i always always always end up back where my brother took me that night. to my jeans and my t-shirt. or at least a white shirt.
it's the place where i feel the most genuine and authentic.
some of you know that imogene+willie turns ONE YEAR about right now. we won't have a big celebration until august (stay tuned).
but, still..... want to commemorate the birthday in some way right now.
my brother works for levi's now.
that brand is and will always be the father of it all, but my brother still finds time in his jean wearing rotation to pay homage to his willie's, of which just turned ONE, as well.
he sent matt and me pictures of his willie's this morning. we have included them in this post.
if you have a minute, click on the pictures to see the real up close beauty.
hoping that they will be inspiration to you and your pants, as he has been our inspiration all along.
love,
carrie and matt
hoping that they will be inspiration to you and your pants, as he has been our inspiration all along.
love,
carrie and matt
PLEASE READ THIS. and then, wash your jeans like real people
PRE-WORK/WEBSITE HOUSE KEEPING from the point of view of me (carrie), since i am the least computer savvy, just in case you are, too:
if you have ever visited our website, please do the following real quick. (we might ask you again next week to do this... as new look book will go up then.)
1) go to imogeneandwillie.com
if you see a NEW video, and a washing machine icon with text instruction for washing your jeans like real people, then you are good. skip next #2 and #3 instructions.
if you see the OLD video (about the shop) and some not so cute out of place orange text at the top of the page that doesn't make sense, please follow #2 and #3 instruction below.
2) empty your cache
(for example on MAC: click on safari or firefox at top left corner next to the apple. go down 7 lines.. see "empty cache". push it.)
3) go to imogeneandwillie.com
now, REFRESH the page. (usually, the round arrow to the RIGHT of where you type in web addresses on your browser.)
if you are like my computer, then you might have to do this several times.
now.
imogene+willie just this week turned ONE! this means that, for a lot of you, your jeans are celebrating the same birthday, or will be in the coming months.
our favorite phone calls now on a daily basis are, "ok. i am ready. how do i wash these jeans?"
we thought it might be easier to explain it from the point of view of our customers.
so, this morning we introduce WASH YOUR JEANS LIKE REAL PEOPLE. video and text instruction.
go check it out.
everything we do takes good work from good people.
thank you, matt and ian, for dreaming and thinking and creating.
thank you, john moessner, for understanding what we love and capturing it so well on video.
thank you, patty griffin, for singing songs that put us on our knees.
thank you dave wheeler, for your friendship. but also, for pulling off always-so-last minute web work.
thank you brian stone, teresa mason and james clauer (and chaplin) for being really good real people.
love,
c
j.crew x imogene + willie
courtesy of WWD
by Jean E. Palmieri
Posted Thursday July 1, 2010
J. Crew has snagged another exclusive, this time with denim brand Imogene + Willie. The Nashville-based jeans label will offer two styles of men’s jeans and two bags at J. Crew’s men’s stores in TriBeCa, SoHo and on Madison Avenue (opening in late summer) starting at the end of August. The merchandise will also be available online.
Right now, Imogene + Willie jeans are sold only in the brand’s Nashville store and a specialty store in Austin, Tex., named Stag. The line of artisan denim is the creation of the husband-and-wife team of Matt and Carrie Eddmenson. Before setting up the company, they worked together in a family business in Kentucky designing and developing new processes of garment finishing for premium denim for Levi’s, Lee, Girbaud and Polo Ralph Lauren’s RRL, as well as Rogan, J Brand, Diesel and Replay. That business closed two years ago, and the couple started Imogene + Willie, which is named for Carrie’s maternal grandparents.
“They’re so pure and artisan,” said Frank Muytjens, vice president of men’s design for J. Crew, of the Eddmensons. “They create their denim in a big metal tub in the backyard, and the leather guy down the street makes the bags. Every jean is a one-off and has Western influences, workwear influences. Everything is very crafty and very individual.”
J. Crew will carry a slim straight-leg model, which is “based on a jean from the Forties,” he said, in either a dark rinse with mild abrasion for $375 or a light wash with more abrasion for $425. There will be a slimmed-down version of a vintage U.S. Mail bag for $650 and a leather tote for $800. Hangtags have been printed from old letter presses, and the sizes will be individually hand-stamped, according to Matt Eddmenson. There will also be a vintage T-shirt and sweatshirt for women.
The association between the two companies came about after the Eddmensons reached out to J. Crew chief executive officer Millard “Mickey” Drexler, whom they had known from his days at Gap. “We sent him an e-mail saying we were enamored with all the collaborations they were doing, and literally three minutes later the phone rang at the store and it was Mickey,” she said.
Although the brand has received “tons of inquiries” from other retailers wanting to carry the jeans, Carrie Eddmenson said it is a “strategic decision” not to wholesale beyond J. Crew and Stag. “We want to keep it pretty intimate,” she said.
The “mid- to long-term goal,” he said, is to open additional locations, but “no more than three.” His wife added: “We like that people are flying to Nashville to come to the store.”
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