As always, when he was stitching along, new and old thoughts and ideas went through his head. It was like, an almost meditative state. Routine motions done for hours and hours has that effect on you – you can let your thoughts wander. And now, his thoughts was slowly taking shape around the denim jeans he was creating. Thread colour. Fit. High waisted or low rise? Choices, choices…

“But” he wondered, “are these choices a real blessing?” And, furthermore, was the choices in front of him actual real ones? If the background for these choices weren’t presented together with them, how could he even make a good decision? Was he coached on his way by others, or, was he completely true to his own path in life – whatever that was…?

It was a strange trail of thoughts he suddenly approached. Could he himself actually decide on how he should create these jeans at hand, without knowing in depth how others did, and had been doing earlier on? Didn’t he have to study big brands and historical garments, before designing his own? Or, could one just trust in that one’s own instinct was an original one, not just shaped into a copy of what was considered ‘correct’?

Well, this felt a bit too complicated for him right now. It had to wait – time for that later, when he wasn’t just as busy as right now. He quickly decided on a fit he remembered from his youth – just a basic tight fit, with a rather high waist, and with a brownish thread colour, reminding him of the golden one’s from back then, memories of the 80’s.

“There! Made it!” He felt blessed that he could even make a pair of classic denim jeans in his workroom! A product most people often thought only could be made in factories far, far away. And was it tailoring? “Well, I think so!” he thought while inspecting the newly made trousers. “Maybe I should start taking notes about how I make these garments I do? Just so I will remember… Maybe a kind of structure, or coherent idea will come out of it…?”

He took a piece of paper and started writing.

Sten Martin tried to explain himself to the customer he just fitted a suit for. Why on earth would he – Sten Martin, the classic bespoke tailor – want to go through all that work, just to make a pair of jeans that seemingly looked like those you could easily buy in a store? Why not solely concentrate all efforts on suits and blazers instead – you know, the traditional stuff? Classic things! Exclusive things! The customer was baffled.

“But, you know… I kind of wanted the feeling of these jeans, being all mine. Making them as a part of my own process… Not just accepting how others think, and want things to be. Like… make them fit me.”

Actually, he had made denim garments before in the late 1980’s and 90’s. Not jeans, but jackets. And not in denim fabric – but in a heavy velvet curtain material since the ‘alternative approach’ was considered cool back then – still, the cut and overall look and feel of it all was absolutely and certainly ‘American rural’. Or at least he thought so. Then.

In more recent years he had tweaked this approach somewhat and even bought himself some American ‘heavy duty’ denim, to perfect the look into a more contemporary way. But now, he wanted to make jeans. Of course it was harder to make them and fit them, than those jackets he’d made earlier on, but that didn’t hold him back.

The day before, he had started on a pair. It wasn’t all that easy – but then again, nothing was in bespoke tailoring. Patience was a virtue and complicated shapes and routines was nothing new to him. In this case though, the trick was, to make something to look a certain specific way, without knowing exactly what was giving it that specific look and feel. So he had to discuss his process with others, he thought. And that he did today.

But they didn’t get it. They didn’t understand his point of view. On the question of what made a pair of jeans great, the counter-question of “why?” appeared instead. Why to make it? And on the question on certain cuts and looks, the idea that the trousers had to come from a specific brand was prevalent. A tailor who made jeans, was apparently not the thing. But ‘tailor-made’ jeans from a brand most certainly was. Very confusing indeed…

“Maybe I just have to sort this out for myself?” he thought after testing the idea with a couple of his customers. “Maybe I have to find my own views and ways, within the process itself – and then try to explain it to others?” There it is, he decided. “I’ll make them first, and then maybe start a conversation.”

He went back to the old leather sewing-machine, and started stitching.

So we need some denim, right? And I was thinking of something really shaped – but still a bit oversized over shoulders and sleeves, allowing a lot of movement for the owner.

So here’s the beginning! Pinned in the shape I’m going for, using our men’s athletic denim jacket template as a starting point. Next thing is to transform that template into a new pattern. Let’s do this!