Photos: Julian Berman
Model: Rocky Repp

To celebrate our 20th anniversary, we've been in development on several denim  projects that we think encapsulate the experience that we've gained over the years in textile design. The first of our anniversary denim projects is a rinsed 13.4oz denim that is custom woven for us utilizing cotton from Burkina Faso, one of Africa’s largest cotton producers. Prior to this denim, we were familiar with the country because of our love for their African hand-woven and natural indigo-dyed strip weave blankets which we carried when we first opened our flagship stores. What struck us about this Burkina Faso cotton is the character in the weave: the cotton takes the indigo with slight inconsistency, and the neppiness of the yarns yields a slightly rough weave that gives the appearance of both vertical and horizontal streaking, an effect that is brought to life with the garment rinse we elected to give the fabric. This rinse and tumble dry brings out the blues and purple hues further and give the garments a vintage, broken-in feel from day one. The selvedge edge is finished with a double ticker, a design that we've utilized on several denims over the years, but this time in an emerald green - a color that you will see throughout the year as we commemorate our 20th year in business.

In talking to the small mill that produced the denim, we learned even more about the project that excited us. The yarns do not utilize any bleach when the raw cotton is scoured in order to reduce chemical usage and CO2 output. The yarns are also dyed in a new eco-dyeing process that reduces impact. Moreover, a portion of the sales of the denim is donated to the “Japan Burkina Friendship Society” to assist in building schools and clean water wells for the local people.

The Burkina Faso selvedge denim - BF1x - will be available on Thursday, February 23rd in CS and CT cuts, as well as the Type 3s jacket. They release on our website at noon EST and in-store via our NY & LA flagship stores on the same day. You can also find them via the following retail partners:

• Blue Owl Workshop (Seattle)
• City Workshop (Maplewood)
• Cultizm (Münster)
• Franklin & Poe (Philadelphia)
• Iron Shop Provisions (Lake Charles/New Orleans)
• James Dant (Indianapolis)
• Muddy George (Toronto)
• Redcast Heritage (Madrid)
• Self Edge (San Francisco)
• Self Edge (New York)
• Self Edge (Los Angeles)
• Self Edge (Portland)
• Stockist (Salt Lake City)
• Withered Fig (Vienna)