Casual Denim Pants

This blog post focuses on design features for a newly releasing product.  It is the first in a series of three blog posts focusing on design details for each of  three new products coming to market in Q1 2022. 

Casual Denim Pants

The Casual Denim Pants are designed with versatility in mind.  The product goal is to bring a trouser to market that can be very easily dressed up or down for almost all occasions except a black tie event.  The pants are a cross between traditional jeans and traditional chinos.  I mentioned some of the core fabrics in the previous blog post, but just to expand on that the four core fabrics are:

• Vidalia Mills USA manufactured indigo/natural 14 ounce denim
• Vidalia Mills USA manufactured black/black 14 ounce denim
• Candiani Mills Italian manufactured indigo/indigo 14 ounce denim
• Nihon Menpu Mills Japanese manufactured green/green 14 ounce denim
• Custom – there will be many other fabrics available, but they will be custom small batch runs

Besides a nice range of core denim options, here are the design features for the pants.

Front Pockets

The front pockets focus on function over form.  However, they do look great playing the part of functional pockets.  First, the pocket bags are made from 12 ounce natural sashiko fabric.  This is a very durable fabric, and it also ages quite beautifully with heavy dye transfer from the denim used in the pants.  Besides the aging characteristics, the bags are large and deep so you definitely can use these to warm your hands on a cold day and also to store a lot of stuff.  One of the things I like about the front main pocket is the ability to store larger phones without the phone gouging your upper hip/abdomen when you sit down which happens often with traditional jean pockets with short pocket bags.  The other design feature is slanted pocket openings for very easy access and usability.  One thing I hate about many jeans is when the front pocket openings are restricting and you can barely get your hands in the pockets (if you can at all).  Also creating difficulty doing very simple things like putting your keys in your pocket and taking your keys out of your pocket.  That is not an issue in these pants.  Very usable.  The secondary front pockets are made with the same fabric as the overall pants.  They are sort of like a coin pocket, but much larger and usable for many things besides a quarter or a nickel or a penny.  The pockets are 6 inches deep and wide so they are nearly as large as many traditional jean pockets.  And easy to get things into and out of.  Making for more functional front pockets should you need them.  Four usable pockets instead of no usable front pockets on many jeans nowadays.  A final design detail is the pointed top pocket stitch which on the casual denim pants is very subtle, with tonal stitching.  But interesting when you examine the details closely.  And will make for an interesting aging feature while the pants fade. 

Back Pockets

These are designed like traditional worker “French pockets” on work pants, but look very similarly to traditional back jean pockets, but with rounded instead of square edges.  Back pockets are fully lined with the 12 ounce natural sashiko which is used for the main front pocket bags.  This ensures that the back pockets have maximum durability so holes from wallets and phones do not develop quickly as is typical with traditional jeans using unlined rear pockets.  The pointed stitch detail is also used on the top of the rear pockets instead of arcuates.  Like the front pockets, the rear pockets are larger and more usable from a storage perspective. 

Belt Loops and Patch

The design uses six belt loops with the two in the middle back spaced to help keep the pants in place without “bunching” or slouching of the pants as can sometimes happen if the wearer prefers a looser waist.  The patch is in a traditional jean location and uses matching leather to the fabric.  The patch uses sewing on upper and lower patch so it can double as another belt loop holding the waist in place as much as possible.

Sewing, Thread and Miscellaneous Details

Tonal stitching is used throughout the pants.  Again, this helps the pants more resemble a chino in appearance than a traditional jean.  The bottom hem at the ankle opening is a one inch chino hem versus a traditional jean hem with thinner fold.  The tonal stitching, hem, matching leather patch, and pockets all allow the pants to be easily adapted to any wear situations including physical work, casual wear, and business casual.  The thread and hardware are all USA sourced.  And finally, the pants are meant to be worn often and worn hard for any situation.  With this in mind, the pants have free lifetime repairs available for customers.  Wear em hard!!!  The pants are a design and crafting partnership between Rugged Workwear – Heritage Quality Goods in Marietta, Georgia and Skinner American Goods in Tallahassee, Florida. 

Thanks for reading and please do not hesitate to reach out if you have design questions.