Meet the 7 Designers Making the Coolest Jeans to Wear Back to School This Fall – TeenVogue.com
“In 2013, that was pretty much everywhere except for secondhand and vintage shops,” she tells Teen Vogue. “I also became extremely sensitive to how clothing felt on my body…I wanted to find pieces that felt comfortable and that would allow me to grow in, instead of confine me.” This is how oversized vintage denim pants became a staple in her wardrobe and a canvas for her creations, as Wiznia began collaging on denim, using vintage patches, appliqués, and textile remnants.
“While in treatment for an eating disorder, it is common that patients will take up knitting or crochet for anxiety management. However, I took up embroidery,” she explains. With this, Wiznia began incorporating needlework into her jeans as a way of “painting with thread.” “For the first time I started to customize pieces to fit my vision and my body rather than changing my body to fit the clothing,” she shares.
Now, with her brand, Wiznia creates customized denim that is meant for all genders and bodies. Each item is its own masterpiece, bringing together deadstock and reused patches, antique textiles, and embroidery, all of which are hand-stitched onto these one-of-a-kind vintage denim pieces. “I love the history of the material,” Wiznia says. “I love how denim shows the story of its wearer.”
Auto Body
Cassie Goodman, born and raised in the East Village in New York City, vividly remembers as a child going through her dad’s collection of vintage from the 1970s. It also wasn’t unusual for her to tag along with him to thrift stores, where she was “surrounded by all the OG Levi’s,” she says. At the same time she was attracted to all of her mom’s ’80s Gaultier jean skirts and jackets, which she’s “borrowed” throughout the years. And we don’t blame her.
With both parents working in the fashion business, the 26-year-old says, “Designing and sewing were my childhood hobbies and I never grew out of them.” It’s no wonder the creative now runs her own fashion brand, Auto Body, a company known for its high-waist, five-pocket, exposed–button fly, straight-leg jeans that come in all different varieties, including corduroy, hickory stripe, plaid, and classic black denim. She’s now expanded to zebra-print velvet corsets and matching pants, a look that was once worn by none other than our girl Maggie Rogers, as well as faux leather trousers with embossed flowers.
In her designs, Goodman tries to balance the feminine and masculine. “I like taking what may be considered a more feminine print or fabric but using it on a more masculine fit. And vice versa,” she says. And her jeans succeed in doing just that.
Knorts
Eleanore Guthrie went to school for accounting, not fashion design. And the 27-year-old, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, says it was actually snowboarding that sparked her interest in fashion. As a former recreational snowboarder, Guthrie found that the fitted flare pants and oversized tops of other snowboarders on the mountain were flattering. “I would alter my snowboarding pants to fit like that when I couldn’t find any on the market that fit my size or budget,” she says.
On top of this, Guthrie liked to bike a lot, always wearing cute and comfy knits on her rides. But in the winter she couldn’t find anything to wear that was appropriate. So she decided to bring the two ideas together, launching a denim knitwear brand named Knorts that uses cotton, indigo-dyed yarns, and Lycra to make pieces that are comfortable but still elevated.
Some of Knorts’s best items include: a denim knitwear jacket, elongated and textured denim knit pants, a denim knit drawstring Bag-o-Secrets, a denim knit sports bralette, and so much more. She also offers a more sustainable option where you can rent her items at a fraction of the cost.
Why does Guthrie love denim so much? “It’s so many things. It’s dressy, it’s casual, it’s sturdy, it’s gender neutral, it’s historical, it’s nostalgic, it’s always relevant,” she says.
Hardeman
Designer Sophie Hardeman’s earliest style memory was making denim for her genderless dolls. For the Amsterdam-based creative, jeans symbolize freedom, and she hopes through her denim brand, aptly named Hardeman, she can help stir a new revolution. Launched in 2015, Hardeman is a genderless brand that uses reclaimed denim waste from stores and thrift shops to make new, one-of-a-kind patchwork pieces.
The silhouettes are rather unconventional — think a denim tracksuit with breakaway snaps (currently sold out), an indigo tie-dyed velveteen suit, shiny denim pants with silver flames, patchwork denim of all different varieties, and even a long denim tote bag that appears to have been made from one pant leg. Troye Sivan and Keiynan Lonsdale are fans of the brand, as are we.
Why denim? Hardeman says, “Jeans play the role of the ultimate example of social conformism. Denim pants have evolved from a workman’s attire to the symbol of freedom to an everyday wardrobe staple.” Hardeman tries to break free from outdated conventions by playing with existing relationships and structures that make up a recognizable garment. For Hardeman, individuality and flaws are the “new perfection.”
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