I need denim that fits my legs! There are two approaches to resolving this conundrum. Make denim baggier to fit a wide swath of male athletes, sacrificing style for “function.” Or construct a style of denim that appears to be the status quo, while combining static and dynamic fabric placement to fit lean waists and able legs. We began with the dress shirt, the henley, the blazer, and now this. The latter approach is infinitely more difficult, to say the least. But the task has been accomplished, nonetheless. The reality is, the history of ordinary stretch denim is much longer than the history of CrossFit.
There exists old “solutions” to the fit problem and there is now the paramount solution to the fit problem.
Our mission was to solve the problem in way that will allow for timeless appeal of the product. And thus, rather than aligning Mizzen+Main’s priority 1. athletic 2. style, we did it as such: 1. timeless style 2. that finally fits athletes.
The man who made American raw denim popular, Mr. James Dean. Between 1890 and his era, denim was all about mining utility and military operations. Dean’s denim of choice? LEE’S 101 Riders. Of the several heritage brands along with Levi Strauss’s that are still relevant today. As well — his styling is still relevant, today.
Our focus was both simple and difficult. Combine the following — timeless style, function, and integrity. Many of us recognize that CrossFit was building us in ways that we could have never previously imagined, both physically and mentally. Unfortunately, there is a negative to each positive. While we grew as able humans, clothing became more and more ill-fitting. This was one of the subtle inspirations for our brand — Mizzen+Main — in the first place.
If you know anything about the brand that we are building, we are about the timeless, classic approach to the use of highly technical fabrics. Not only do our clothes perform, they are all tagged with three simple words: “Modern Athletic Cut.” This level of design scrutiny has never been achieved by a high-end menswear brand beyond the custom clothiers that focus their time and marketing on NFL and NBA athletes.
We wanted to take it a step further and develop classic American staples that can be worn (and worn well) right off of the rack. More importantly, Kevin and I share a mutual disdain for the trends that have swept us up over the last several decades. Follow this exercise:
Todd Oldham jeans, Marithé + François Girbaud, B.U.M. Equipment, Mudd Jeans, Mickey Unlimited, Cross Colours, Unionbay, Pure Playaz, Bugle Boy, Jou Jou, Mavi, Paper Denim & Cloth, Baby Phat, Joop!, No Excuses, Z. Cavarricci, Reactor, Apple Bottom Jeans, Jnco Jeans, and GASP body building jeans.
For a time, each of these had its own craze. However, none of these could be taken seriously today. These brands taught me very specific lessons about longevity. When oddly enough, straight fit denim from the 60's and 70's would’ve worked throughout my childhood and adolescence. I fell victim to one trendy brand, growing up: Marithé + François Girbaud (those pleats, though). And JNCO almost got me in 7th grade. Otherwise, I recognized that cool names, niche / exaggerated fits, and hyper-focused marketing campaigns always ends one way: irrelevance. That means that while we have to build products with specific purposes, we cannot limit ourselves to that focus.
When CrossFit began to develop mere humans into superhuman athletes, the conversation began. It’s been years in the making. Where do we find our options for denim that properly fits our needs, re: waist, quads, rise, length? Hilary Achauer went into grand depth in her search for that answer for women. She did a damn good job. And brands answered, via ad campaigns and well-executed Kickstarter campaigns.
Now, there are is an option for men. Our brand is not a cliché, patriotic manufacturer because it is the cool thing to do. In fact, it is actually painful to do things the way that we are at Mizzen+Main. It takes quite of bit of grit but so does anything that’s worth it. We joke that our lives will lie inevitably shorter, due to our focus on building a complex American textile supply chain. Historically, this supply chain fell to the wayside with unionization’s growing influence and lower costs of Mexican, Chinese, Tawainese, and Malaysian labor. We are one of the few young brands who are taking another shot at it.
There are few others that chose to build here, with us. We hat tip brands like Imogene+Willie, Raleigh Denim, Quoddy, Blue Claw Co, Allen Edmonds, Pierrepont Hicks, and Baldwin denim. It’s pretty neat to say, “Thanks for powering through this latest batch of product, Joe.” This, versus us calling Area 5 in China and waiting to speak with a liason who could give a damn about our desire to build a brand whose clothing will be relevant in 40 years.
When it comes to the fit of our men’s denim, we took the liberty of betting that trendy would lose to timeless. That means that yes, you can finally buy 32 x 34 denim, suitable with either a t-shirt or a double-vented, athletic blazer. That was my personal aim. No trendy washes or fits that are 90's baggy, hipster skinny, or meathead blousy.
A 5'9, 195 lb. able gentleman deserves the same quality and fit of clothing as a 6'1" 155 lb. gent. A 6'3" 220 lb. male deserves the same. We reverse-engineered several pattern models, we added synthetic fibers to existing traditional denims, and then we tested the hell out of them. We solved this problem and the beautiful thing is, it has been well-recieved by athletes and non-athletes alike. We tested our product’s proficiency on everyone, a true measure of textile technological progress.
We are extremely proud of our textile advancements and we will continue to blur the lines between menswear and the technology that we’ve come to compete in on every field, court, and arena.
Learn more about the “Abrams” Advanced Denim. And recommend this, if you found value in it.
Additional reading | D Magazine: Mizzen+Main’s “No Sweat Success”
My name is @Web Smith. I am the CMO and a cofounder of Mizzen+Main. We office out of Dallas, Columbus, and New York City. Dallas serves as the left brain, Columbus serves as the right brain. Manhattan is our great longitudinal fissure. Mizzen+Main is Tradition. Evolved.
