ROY jeans

I've got to admit, Giraffe Lookout has fallen off in the past few weeks. There are two main factors, one being time and the other being interest. Frankly, I just don't care about ad copy much anymore. I'm not really even that into viral videos either now that I don't have anytime to watch them. Hang in there though, things will even out soon. I may even have a new project on the way (with help this time.)

One thing I'm really excited about, though, is American craft-made apparel and the videos that champion it. Case in point, Roy Slaper making jeans by himself with vintage equipment and denim from the Cone Mills plant in North Carolina. Watch this video and tell me you don't want a pair. 

Roy's Jeans - Video by Self Edge from Self Edge on Vimeo.

Wieden drops stunning visuals and an empty message

It's hard to imagine a advertisement that can inspire conflicting emotions quite like this offering from Wieden + Kennedy as part of the Levi's go forth campaign.

On one hand, the ad is absolutely stunning to look at and listen to. The clothes look great and one might even be able to find a small shred of inspiration from the young male voice whispering sweet nothings about pioneers in the rust belt. This is America. The home of- pioneers, coal miners, big ten football and, of course, Levi's. Any second now, American craftsmanship (manufacturing) will be back!

On the other hand, the ad is kind of vague. Welcome back to Braddock, PA? So what is Levi's doing for Braddock, PA besides getting some kids to plant a garden? Maybe these sweet nothings really are just sweet nothings. The kind that undergrad girls may fall prey to at their freshman orientation. Hmmm, I think I'll take a bath now.

The Levi's website states that the company is supporting a community center and a community garden. Awesome!! A huge clothing empire wants to help but sending some charity to Pennsylvania. That is not really the ideal method of corporate responsibility and Ed Freeman would agree with me.

Here's another idea, labor in the U.S. is expensive but people still like to pay a lot of money for denim. Don't pay Wieden any more money. The Levi's brand is already strong enough. Send over some shuttle looms to Pennsylvania (if you still have any or buy them back from the Japan) then put out a line of high end dry denim. The product would hit a demographic that is not currently wearing Levi's and it would be willing to shell out $300 bucks a pop. This is not exactly gear for working people in Braddock, PA but these are rust belt folks. They want jobs not charity.

Trend spotting and nice denim

Well. We've hit the mainstream. When J. Crew starts doing it, you know it is extremely trendy. Hypebeast is reporting that J. crew is set to roll out a line of men's jeans that are made from selvedge denim in collaboration with a Japanese line Warehouse. The cotton is grown in Memphis, TN and then woven and dyed in Japan. The price tag is around $300. There are a lot of questions that remain. Will the jeans be washed? If not, how is J. Crew going to sell unwashed denim to preppy white people and get them to wear in their own fades?

I guess there are no surprises here. J. Crew seems to have a knack for emulating what is becoming trendy and presenting it to the public in an accessible manner. You can easily spend $300 elsewhere on Japanese denim but you can spend a lot less too. Warehouse denim retails right now for about $275. I guess this really gets to the question of what J. Crew value proposition is. I think it is something like- "We identify and validate what is cool because you are either too lazy, afraid or otherwise need hand holding to make style decisions. In exchange, we are going to charge you a lot." the other question is how they are going to present this denim to its customers.