Photo taken from BillyReid.com
High Fashion in ALABAMA....with designer Billy Reid.
Based out of Florence, Alabama based and also the recipient of
GQ's Best New Designer Award collaborates with Levi's
with a classic/vintage/worn taste in mind for a collection, and it works.
"For the Billy Reid fall collection, I researched turn-of-the-century workwear and manufacturing techniques, and then I mixed that with a hand-tailored element. So workwear was already where my head was at when this Levi's opportunity came up. That made the transition from designing Billy Reid to designing this collection somewhat seamless. The big difference being, of course, that Levi's is a huge company and we're this tiny business out of Florence, Alabama."
"Basically, as soon as we found out we'd won GQ's Best New Designer award, we got a call from Levi's, and they were like, 'You're coming to San Francisco next week.' The Levi's archive numbers something like 7,500 pieces, so we sent them some signature elements from our fall line—our peacoat, our chino—and they pulled some stuff for us to look at. The thing that stuck out immediately was an old blacksmith's work apron they'd recovered in New Mexico or somewhere. It was white duck cloth, but it was just dingy with abrasions, rust, and oil stains. That became the starting point for the entire collection. Every piece ties back to it, whether it's the tote bag that's basically the apron folded, or the hunting coat, where the full apron is inside, acting as a game pouch."
"Ultimately, I wanted everything to look either really worked over or really pristine. With the denim, for instance, we did an update on a 505, where there's all this dyeing and tinting. But then we also did a high-rise jean that's straight from a pair of 1947 Levi's. We just kept that one clean, man."
Photo credit: Eric Ray Davidson
Quoted excerpt by: Billy Reid to Will Welch
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