Wearing denim is an intriguing process. You are going to be excited walking out of the store with your new pair of G. Star Raw or Rag and Bone jeans, but the plain truth is that it sometimes takes months of wear for the jeans to hit their maximum appeal. Denim is an intriguing fabric in that it becomes more appealing, better fitting, and better looking the more broken in they are. And while it is great to own a quality pair of jeans and watch them age over time, it may be beneficial to some to have that broken in look from the get. Luckily, numerous brands and stores based in Los Angeles use recycled pairs of old jeans, restore them back to wearability, and sell them as fully broken in, classic, and luxurious wearable pieces of Americana. Here are the best places in L.A. to find these special pairs of jeans.
RE/DUN is an L.A.-based women’s fashion brand founded by Sean Barron, who formerly founded the luxury Joie label, and Jamie Mazur who also runs Underground Denim, a company that sells premium denim on college campuses. The high-fashion creative mindset of Barron and the denim-adoring passion of Mazur combine forming the platform of RE/Dub. RE/DUN collects old pieces of denim from assorted vintage shops throughout the United States. Using this method allows the company an endless supply of materials to be used. The resulting pieces are exactly what you’d want out of denim: vintage but not dirty, structured but not constricting, well-fitted but highly wearable. The website says, “Each pair of RE/DUN jeans was handpicked and admired for its one-of-a-kind wear patterns, its artfully faded denim, and the history we were able to learn from its labels.”
Where to Buy
RE/DUN is at this juncture only available in its online store, linked to above.
Cost
Styles start at $230
French fashion brand A.P.C. is always doing exciting things. It appeals to the high-fashion vanguard with their pitch-perfect minimalist staples as well as makes the street-style cool kids go crazy with its bold collaborations such as the one this summer with none other than Kanye West. But at the end of the day, when people think A.P.C., they think denim, and A.P.C. jeans have long been coveted as some of the best selvedge denim in the game. Owner Jean Touitou started the Butler program in 2008. Basically, proud owners of A.P.C. New and Petit Standard and New Cure jeans are offered the chance to turn in their jeans in return for s new pair at half the retail price. But first, A.P.C. must deem the jeans “Butler-worthy,” they show pictures on the website of examples making jeans unworthy, basically if you have any holes in them that were put there yourself, it’s not going to work out. The owner whose jeans are worthy then inscribes his initials on the jeans while A.P.C. mends and repairs the denim and then puts them back on the racks as perfect pieces of vintage denim. It’s buying jeans with a story, literally, and a truly inspired piece of marketing from the exciting brand.
Where to buy
A.P.C. outpost at 8420 Melrose Place
Cost
$275
Thank heavens for this place. Nudie Jeans is a brand that touts classic worn-in looking jeans, and as such offers a special service More people than not have that absolute favorite pair of jeans. The ones that you constantly gravitate towards, almost feeling guilty because you are neglecting you’re other pairs that you paid good money for, but your favorites just look and fit so good! Eventually the jeans wear out going unwearable, and you miserably head to the Salvation Army to do a good deed. But maybe instead to head to Nudie Jeans Stores, who will then restore the jeans back to their proper health and wearability without sacrificing the beauty of the denim that has been acquired with its age. It’s like buying your favorite pair of jeans all over again.
Where to buy
Nudie Jeans House at 710 North Edinburgh Avenue.
Cost
Depends on damage of the denim.
When designer Tiana Gallagher lost her job in reality television, she turned passion into paychecks by taking her Etsy shop and turning it into a full business. Gallagher is a denim enthusiast and spends her time shopping thrift shops for old jackets, skirts, and shorts before she can apply her signature touch to the pieces. That signature touch? Pieces of patterned fabric found locally and across the globe. The result is a heavily SoCal influenced hippie-chic. Woman can wear the vests over a sundress or a tee-shirt, and the shorts can go with just about anything.
Where to buy:
Firefly at 1409 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
The Golden State at 564 Rose Avenue
Cost
Styles start at $50
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