See! How awesome are these!

I feel like obsessions are much like addictions.  I’m obsessed with raw, selvage jeans and that obsession started with boredom, followed by curiosity, which led to a gateway drug (The New Standard from APC Jeans.)    New obsessions are like Alice In Wonderland, you never know how deep the hole will go and where it will lead.  With denim, the rabbit hole (which started with APC) has led me to one of the most inspiring brands I’ve had the fortune of seeing.

I remember reading an interview once where someone said the first time they heard Bob Dylan they wanted to quit music - that he set the bar so high that they would forever underachieve by comparison.  Of course, they were being interviewed by Rolling Stone, so you know how that story went.  Karl, the man behind Rogue Territory, is like my Bob Dylan - equally inspirational and intimidating.

Rogue Territory

Rogue Territory creates bespoke denim the old fashioned way, but has recently launched an off-the-rack line of denim jeans, pants and shirts aimed at freaks like me who can geek out on details like selvage lines, branded rivets, and how .25 inches of rise, thigh, knee and leg opening can make all the difference between your perfect pair of jeans and just another 501 revision.  Besides having one of my favorite brand executions of the last few years, Rogue Territory has managed to launch a denim line that can still be passion inducing to those of us who have nitpicked at every brand of selvage jeans available in the last few years.  With brands like Jean Shop, Momotaro, Somet, Sugar Cane, Kicking Mule Workshop and more, plus a lingering economic downturn, the prospect of launching a raw selvage denim line would seem overwhelming.  But amidst this climate Karl has done something I have literally daydreamed about, launched a line-up of awesome clothes backed by a fantastic brand, that somehow manages to stand out.

Freaking WORK PANTS!

Is it an obsession, or a crush?  Good question (that I’m afraid to answer.)  What Rogue Territory has done is tweak the modern standard fits (skinny, straight, and 501) and find unique twists.  First, according to what I’ve read, the jeans are made from denim from some of the top denim mills in the US and Japan (Kaihara and Cone Mills are examples.)  His run of each line seems to come from denim that will not be seem again, thus making each season unique - even if he continues to make the same fits.  Why does this matter?  Because while it’s great to know that a pair of APC can always be counted on, it’s nice to know that sometimes you are wearing something truly unique.

Granted, the way I break in my APCs or Pure Blue Japans is always going to differ from someone else’s, a truly unique pair of jeans is like art.  Which, by the way, is the other kind of jeans created by Rogue Territory - a truly made to fit, tailored pair of jeans.  I’m not in LA, nor will I be soon, so I’m unlikely to ever enjoy this process.  Instead I will settle for a pair of the Stanton (and probably the Work Trouser DBL, which is easily one of the coolest items of clothing I’ve ever seen.)

Have I gone overboard yet?  Suck it.  In fact, if you’ve read anything else I’ve written you know my penchant for snark.  So, other than Apple I can think of few brands and products that have ever caused this kind of reaction in me and I’m not going to hold back.  Partly because I not-so-secretly fanaticize about designing (or contributing to) my own line of denim and like the earlier Bob Dylan quote, Rogue Territory makes me want to get off my ass and do it except that it makes me want to put my head down and never design again. I love when anyone has a clear vision and executes is so well.

So, in closing, I’m madly obsessed with Rogue Territory, a brand you will likely hear about in the future.  And by the way, here are some pictures from his website - I hope he doesn’t ask me to take them down.

Buy from him now.  Support this talent so he doesn’t get gobbled up by some major brand.

And…looky here.  I got through the whole post with nary a spot of negativity save the “suck it” towards the end.

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