Report from Bread & Butter

The season of fashion fairs officially started last Friday for Denimhunter. Actually I wasn’t supposed to go, but Tuesday evening I spontaneously booked a flight to Berlin to go to the Bread & Butter tradeshow. I was lucky enough to be able to bunk with the Scandinavian Wrangler sales team, which cut me some expenses on the hotel bill. This is a report of some of the highlights from the fair, but for most of the brands I visited, I’ll do thorough reviews soon.

Visitors were greeted by a replica of James Dean’s “Little Bastard” Porsche 550 Spyder, which was put in exhibition by McGregor, manufacturer of the red windbreaker that Dean wore in Rebel Without a Cause.

First up was a visit with the guys from Blue Bell/Wrangler, read the full review here.

Nudie Jeans Co is a permanent fixture in the corner of the L.O.C.K. (Labels of Common Kind) hall of the enormous hangar. I had a good talk with Andreas, sales & marketing director of the company, and we agreed that I’d have to visit Nudie in Gothenburg this spring. Already looking forward to it.

Nudie introduces a shop-in-shop concept where some of the inventory will be Danish Montana bookcases.

For the fall/winter delivery of 2012, all jeans from Nudie will be 100% organic. Pretty impressive.

Here’s a little sneak peek of what Clip & Rope has to offer for next fall. You’ll also get more of that in a full review I’ll do upon visiting the company in February.

This is the anticipated reproduction of the original Clip & Rope boot found in John H. Harvey’s cabin. You can read more about the company and see the original here.

Now, you might be wondering what a rubber boot is doing on Denimhunter. Well, the answer is actually quite simple; this are not just any pair of rubber boots, these are the originals from a company founded in 1853, and they tell a great story. That’s what Rope Dye is all about. I’ll elaborate and explain the validity of their presence later after I’ve visited the new sales manager Mads Hancock (former Levi’s employee) in his showroom.

Of course I also visited the gentlemen from Red Wing Shoes, but as the Danish agent of the brand was just on his way out, we agreed to arrange a visit in his showroom. But here’s just some of the highlights.

The 200-series.

This is a special collaboration with British Nigel Cabourn.

Below are the new styles for fall 2012. I just got to have the Chelsea Rancher in Oro-iginal(!)

The guys from Pace presented me with this very interesting pair of jeans made in collaboration with author and denim enthusiast Michael Allan Harris. You might recognise his name from the cover of the great book “Jeans of the Old West: A History“. Harris owns the rights to the production of the Neustedter Brothers brand from whom he’d found an original pair of denim jeans. The ones in the pictures are exact replicas made to the very last stitch by Japanese denim experts. The sales & marketing manager from Pace invited me to Gothenburg to have a closer look at the jeans, so I guess with two invitations, I’ll have to visit the second largest city of Sweden pretty soon.

The founder of Pace is a rather patient man when it comes to wearing in his denim. Amazing results!

In addition to all the above mentioned brands, I also visited Levi’s Vintage Clothing, Edwin, and the new comer from the Netherlands, K.O.I., all of which I will review in detail later.

You can read more about Levi’s here.

You can read about Edwin here.

Read more about K.O.I. here.

Written by Thomas Bojer.