#56 | Olé Denim 306 13oz Fades

It seems like forever since the days of leaving the house to work at the office or meet friends and family for food and drinks. Though I miss the social interactions the most, I'm getting tired of wearing loungewear regularly. I switch in and out of the same clothes regularly consisting of adidas track pants, pullover hoods and could use more button-ups and denim in my life. As I reflect on my wardrobe, I took a peek at some jeans that I wear to the grocery store on a weekly basis and began to think back on my memories with them. I've always loved that raw denim's rips, tears and fades take you back to a certain time of your life and give you a feeling, similarly to a photograph. You might be saying to saying to yourself "Wow Ryan, you're weird", and I'd agree with you but let me tell you what this article of clothing has been through.

This is my pair of Olé Denim 306 13oz jeans. I've owned these since 2015 and have worn them a couple of times a week regularly since 2016. These used to be a deep indigo when I first purchased them and my plan was to wear these as my "travelling pants". Before I had the chance to wear them on a trip I broke my ankle and wanted to still wear denim, so I paired them with a pair of black New Balance 574's and some crutches. After I got through physio, I was ready to do some exploring and booked some trips taking these to Vancouver, Las Vegas, China, Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia later that year. That was my first time leaving North America making it even more memorable.

After that year, I figured it was best to beat these up and wear these hard so I found myself skateboarding in them, "dancing" at club and skating at the ODR. At this point they weren't only my travelling pants but a faded casual pair that I would wear during evenings and weekends. As you can see in the photos above, we now see that they've lost a fair bit of that natural indigo where the jeans crease and are worked like the whiskers (front thighs), honeycombs (behind the knees) and the pockets. Though these are great quality, they aren't indestructible. I've had a couple of crotch blowouts and rips in my pockets which only added character. I was concerned that they'd get larger if they weren't cared for. Wear, care and repair.

You can see here that I decided to do some sashiko repairs to add some more character to the jeans and continue to do as they become more worn. I worked with my good friend Sengshiko to work on some of these designs. I remember this being quite important because I had a couple more trips planned and I wanted to have them fixed up in advance. So prior to Covid-19, I've also worn these to Toronto, Costa Rica, Mexico, Tokyo, India, Portland and a few other places in North America. Some of these trips you may have seen on this blog.

Thanks for letting me nerd out a bit and maybe I'll even share some other pairs of denim I've worn over the years. I can't wait for the day that we're all able to travel, grab beers and roam around safely. Until then, these are going to be my grocery shopping jeans.

Yours Truly

#53 | Fit to Live Capsule Collection

Over at Olé Denim, we spent some time in the Fall working on a small collection of clothing and accessories that we wanted to have ready for Christmas and the New Year. Like the initial production of our jeans, we wanted to create items that could be used regularly and also something that we would spend our own money on. Our entire collection was sourced and made in Canada.

We took our slogan "Fit to Live" that was part of a Martin Luther King, Jr. and re-created the type based on his signature. The quote symbolizes both striving for passion but also the idea that our products are built to last and be versatile. We made two shaker style knit beanies in Storm and Navy, as well as a mid-weight cotton black tee.

Shop the collection here.

Yours Truly

#41 | Olé Denim Samples

The sample process has been a very long but rewarding procedure for us but thanks to our suppliers, producers, Chris and Dallas, we have slowly developed something that we as consumers want to wear and as businessmen are happy and proud to share with the public. As we now go into the final production stages, I want to thank everyone for their support and interest and want to let you know that 2015 is a big year for Olé. We are happy that there are people out there who are as excited as we are! Shout out to Joey Visser for the all of the photos.

Follow our story at @oledenim.

Yours Truly

#29 | Retired Naked & Famous Denim

Four years ago I purchased a pair of Naked & Famous denim from Calgary's Holt Renfrew, specifically the broken twill Skinny Guy. These were my fourth pair of raw denim, but admittedly the first pair that I put significant effort into. I chose these because it was a Canadian brand, an entry pair of raw denim and was a fan of how the broken twill pair turned out.

I remember sizing down a size because the Internet told me to and had a tough first two weeks of wear. I recommend that you should expect stretching, but buy something snug and comfortable at its first wear. These were a great starting pair for being under $200 and still offering Japanese selvedge (the end of the roll can be seen on the cuff photo). Japanese denim is highly sought after for their old practices, machines and general care to ensure quality.

 I wore these for four years and gave them four washes. Many of these companies recommend washing your pair six months in, which I agree on but next time will watch in two month cycles after. The bacteria, rocks, dirt, etc. break down the fibres in your jeans making them more susceptible to tears we hate like crotch blows to tears we like such as near the whiskers. Now I have to retire these due to four crotch repairs that make these uncomfortable.

Did I like these? I like the fit, the fades, the contrast and the attachment I had to an item of clothing. But being introduced to other brands and my own brand Olé, I want to see what other companies can offer. I'm interested in know what you guys wear, what you guys like and what you guys don't like. Comment below.

Yours Truly

#21 | First Olé Denim Samples

As I mentioned in one of my first posts, I had been working on a new jean company prior to starting this blog. My partners Dallas, Chris and I have been working on our jean company Olé for about a year and a half now. We've done a lot of work from meeting connects to completing a marketing plan. Well just this last week we received our first set of samples. I think we had dealt with three denim mills prior to selecting Kuroki and been in talks with a few factories before selecting the one we are now working with.

When I received this pair, I was incredibly excited and everyone could tell. I was stoked that we were one step closer to production and have been patiently working with that in mind. When I had the jeans in my hand they were very impressive. The stitching was fantastic, the fabrics were better quality than I imagined and the Ken Diamond patch went well with the rich indigo colour. Sadly, the fit was exactly what I feared. Out pattern that we created didn't quite match what we had in mind, but I'm not yet worried. Chris is really good at what he does as a designer and has managed to come up with an idea of how to perfect the fit from understanding the taper to understanding exactly how we will get there.

With some hard work we will have our second set of samples sooner than later. I've noticed that people have been curious about this process and if you have any questions at all, feel free to ask! Or maybe our Instagram account can answer them for you.

Yours Truly

#02 | New Balance x Ronnie Fieg "Americana"

2013 was a ridiculous year for Ronnie Fieg, he had a crazy amount of good collaborations from Timberland to Asics. Luckily I managed to get my hands on the New Balance 577 "Americana" from Haven. I like so many things about this shoe, starting with the silhouette. It plays well with the USA colours from the speckled soles to the 3M hits. Majority of the upper is made from denim too, which you will learn in the future why that is important to me too. They came with three pairs of branded laces, but the rope lace really did it for me. Sizing was bit larger than usual possibly because they were made in the US.

I said it before and I'll say it again! Asics and New Balance are going to run the sneaker game in 2014.

Yours Truly