I love jeans. It’s why I write this newsletter and design The Only Jane, and so I thought this letter – so close to Valentine’s Day, and all – could be about that. Feelings over fit. The very reason I’m here.
Fashion lovers know that clothes are more than stuff. At the moment, many of us who live in Los Angeles are consumed by thoughts of stuff – what got lost and what’s been saved, what will be rebuilt, or didn’t stand a chance. “It’s weird to think about stuff right now,” I wrote to a friend (because who cares about stuff when we’re still alive?), “and it’s also all we think about, donate, itemize etc.” She replied, simply: “Our stuff makes us who we are.”
Jeans make me who I am. They are wrapped up in childhood memories and high school boyfriends. They are my first real job, my bylines at Vogue, my best foot forward. They are me before I became a mom. Jeans go on every trip I’ve ever taken anywhere in the world. I have hundreds of jeans stored in boxes I’ll never purge. It hardly matters if they fit. My daughter will wear them one day, I’ve been saying since before I even had a daughter. I’ve always seen jeans in my future.
The Sally jean that I’ve designed was named for a friend I love very much. I sent her a pair – a most exciting and also nerve-wracking thing to do as she is a brilliant fashion person and my teacher – and she texted me after, saying: “Like these are my dream jeans.” A love letter, if I ever got one.
A friend who shares my love for ballet came to my studio at the beginning of the week to try on a pair of Bob jeans. An hour later, I was pirouetting in Ulla Johnson’s clean Martine flares. You know when you’re a middle-aged person doing something you once loved doing as a teenager? That was me in those Martines. (NOTE: The butt construction on them is especially chipper. What’s not to love about that?)
You know what else I love? Big companies that do innovative things in support of sustainable manufacturing. This denim suit from AGoldE’s new Eco-Indigo collection was created in partnership with the French biochemicals company Pili and the Turkish mill Orta using a dye made by fermenting sugar (v burning fossil fuels). Some of AGoldE’s best-selling styles – my personal fave is the V-Waist – are now available in these Eco-Indigo washes. I love the matching set worn here. The head-to-toe of it reminds me of a jumpsuit, and first-gen Jane shoppers know how much I love jumpsuits.
But, back to the feelings. My friend
gave me the pep talk I needed to post the video at the beginning of this newsletter, and wow, I love her for it. I love every bit of feedback I’ve ever gotten from my customers – you make me think harder about how to make clothes work. I love Rùadh jeans and I am so happy for designer , who celebrated the launch of her spring collection on Modi Operandi earlier this week. Seeing other women succeed in the denim business is bliss. The other day I came across these R13s. High on the waist and washed in an inky indigo with profound whiskering, I quickly clicked to buy. I believe in love at first sight.
Thank you, I love you for subscribing at any level, for reading, and for hitting the heart button on your way out (it fits the theme!). Until next week, Denim Forever.
Jane
More good links…
What I wear to drop my kids off at school.
I name all of the jeans I design after people I love. Here’s who they are.
I wear stretch jeans sometimes.
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