BLDWN offers a new meaning to “Made in America” fashion
Formerly known as premium denim line Baldwin, LA-based BLDWN is on
a mission not only to reposition itself as an American ready-to-wear
brand, but to reposition the understanding of contemporary American
fashion design.
“For some reason in fashion, there isn’t the same level of respect
given to American fashion brands,” BLDWN president Jonathan Crocker
told Fashion United. “The general consumer doesn’t realize the best
American designers are actually American designers.”
In the heritage denim landscape, many brands take pride in being
inherently “American.” Denim’s history and roots are tied into
American culture, with consumers often looking to shop specifically
American jeans.
BLDWN notes that this attitude doesn’t hold true in the general
ready-to-wear industry. European brands identify with their
nationalities: brands like Burberry or Christopher Kane are synonymous
with British style, Celine or Chanel with French and Versace or Gucci
embrace Italian heritage.
Crocker said that the great American designers currently existing
in the ready-to-wear sphere don’t particularly embrace “American” as
part of their brand’s identity to the same extent as European brands.
He added that he expects a shift in this way of thinking, that there
will be an increase of brands claiming the label “American” as an
identifier.
“Whatever a small role we can play in reconsidering American
fashion is important,” Crocker said. “For us, that is taking pride in
what that means for us as a brand.”
Fall 2019 is all about modern American style
“Our whole goal as BLDWN is to define what ‘American-modern’ is,”
womenswear designer Shayla Guy said.
The brand presented its Fall 2019 collections during New York
Fashion Week this season. Inspirations for the womenswear range came
from American style icons of the later 20th century including Nico
from the Velvet Underground, Edie Sedwick, Debbie Harry, Patti Smith,
Bianca Jagger and Lee Raziwill.
“With these inspirations, you don’t think of clean, sophisticated,
structured, linear. You think of more distressed, vintage, worn down,
a little bit more vintage washes, worn down treatments, a lot more
edgy,” Guy said. “You think of those people as very powerful women, so
we are also trying to figure that out as we are deciding what the next
generation of what the next wave of American Modern is.”
BLDWN is still known for its denim
“Baldwin’s always done really great denim, with a focused on
quality and wash,” Guy said. “Now we have some filters that we put on
the denim.”
While denim is still evident throughout the brand’s offerings, it
comes in a more curated selection rather than staple cuts of jeans.
Standout denim styles include a cropped, wide-leg jean in a black
wash, a high-waisted pair of black jeans with suspenders and a
wide-leg jean done with a houndstooth pattern. The collection also
features knits, dresses, skirts, leather trousers, jackets and
overcoats.
As with before, BLDWN’s current denim is done in a premium quality,
yet speaks to the ready-to-wear collection as a whole. “It really
gives us legs to to do all of these other great categories that look
clean, modern, not a lot of top stitching, not a lot of hardware and
mostly about the shapes, the colours, the fabrics, the more tactile
elements of it,” Guy said.
She explained that in designing the collection, if a denim style
couldn’t be paired with a vintage blazer, she’d scrap it and move
ahead with a new style to maintain the mid-century modern element that
is evident throughout the range.
The brand was rooted in premium denim and that continues to be the
case in that the item will remain a core foundation to each
collection. As the brand evolves, its denim offerings evolve to a
place where it propels and supports the rest of the ready-to-wear, in
both women’s and men’s lines.
“Hopefully, that customer who has come to know and love BLDWN and
came to us primarily for the denim, will now come to us for the rest
of their wardrobe,” said Crocker.
Photos: courtesy of Purple PR