Ripped: Goodhood Discuss Denim

Goodhood c0-founders Kyle Stewart and Jo Sindle have launched a new  Goodhood Flagship store in Shoreditch. The new lifestyle store is already the go to place if you want an enviable brand list range and to name check just a few there will be clothing from Comme des Garçon and Opening Ceremony, homeware from &Tradition to Hay and beauty including Malin&Goetz and Aesop.

Kyle and Jo have a history with denim having met when they were both working at Levi’s. As denim is a clothing stalwart and as an item of clothing that is most often ripped we asked Kyle for his thoughts on the ever enduring staple:

What can you say about denim that hasn’t been said before? There are myths and legends surrounding the murky indigo baths that create the world’s finest jeans. From gold miners of the Wild West to the icons of Hollywood’s silver screens, it’s hard knock the most universal item of clothing the world has ever seen.

The inherent beauty of a pair of jeans lies in the indigo dye used to dye the yarns that weave your jeans. It’s an unstable dye meaning it shifts and moves, this is why your jeans fade over time. Levi’s have experimented with non-fade denim some years ago, which I know because I had a pair that I was determined to wear out and see fade. We got there in the end, but it was a journey of a couple of years at least. Normal good quality jeans will take a year of constant wear to become a lived in piece of indigo art. They form to tell the story of your life, the way you stand, the pocket you put your wallet in, or not, the kind of life you lead all represented in the abrasions and marks created by the ever dynamic indigo. 

I’ve found the old adage to get them a size up to be mythical. Wear them in the bath and shrink to fit? I did, I got ill… And my jeans didn’t fit. To get the best out of them you have to buy them in a raw state. Get them fitting you tight from raw as they will grow a size over time. Don’t wash them in that first year or two, air them or take them to the dry cleaner. After a couple of years wash them and marvel at the spectacle when the dirt and grease comes out. Voila. 

Do jeans still have that raw, rugged appeal that made them the sought after item of every one from counter culture revolutionaries to 90’s skaters? They’ve had a fair few bad incarnations over the years but I guess the moral of this story is it’s how you wear them and how they wear you. 

The Queen of England has apparently never worn a pair. You draw your own conclusion. 

The new Goodhood store is at 151 Curtain Road, EC2A 3QE. All jeans pictured are available in store.