Going to London

[arenn1]

Hi. I'm going to London in a couple weeks. Can any of you denim gurus suggest some good brands or places to buy them? I'd be partial to finding something not available in the US. Thx.

 

[ringring]

Ye Olde and Brief Gyde to Denim Blue in Olde London Towne.

Selfridges, Oxford Street. Possibly the best department store in London. If you have the fortune of a fair maiden as companion, 'tis a good place to leave the lady for a browse round the posh frocks whilst you take a gander at brands like:
Evisu
Nobody (Aussie brand, does some dry selvage)
Red Ear by Paul Smith (there's a dry selvage with a bit of handbrushing in this season).
LVC - they usually have a few pieces.
Blue Blood - Also does a dry range.
MHI - Marharishi Jeans.
APC...etc
There's loads of denim, including more mainstream UK/European brands like Diesel, GStar, OneTrueSaxon, Firetrap etc plus most of your US 'Premium' brands.

If you want to pick up some cheap, great value, selvage jeans, there's a Uniqlo on Oxford Street too. At the other end from Selfridges.

On the way to Liberty, there's a TopMan in TopShop at the crossroads between Oxford St and Regent St. They also do cheap selvage.

A 10 minute walk from Selfridges lies Liberty, on Regent Street.
The mens department in the basement has become quite a home to selvage denim. You'll find selvage from:
Sugarcane - Japan
Kato - Japan
APC - France
Blue Blood - Holland
YMC - UK
Morris - Sweden
Nudie - Sweden
Duffer - own brand selvage.
D.I.E - not sure where this brand is from.
+ a lot more.

Have a nice cup of tea, and then make your way to Covant Garden. It's walkable (20 mins) or get a cab (5 min ride).

Look for Duffer of St George, just off Neal Street.
They stock some good denim from:
Lewis Leathers - rockers selvage denim
Atelier La Durance - japanese denim made in France
Full Count - If you're lucky they may have some. Japanese high quality.
+ other stuff like PRPS & 5EP (both US brands but made in Japan).

Less than a minute away in Endell street you'll find,

American Classics, stocking:
LVC
Wrangler Bluebells
Buzz Rickson - Japanese Levis style repros
Lee vintage repros

Interstate (across the road from American Classics), stocking:
Edwin - good value japanese selvage
Lee Europe - some selvage Lees.

Good hunting. Safe trip.

 

[LA Guy]

I would recommend against getting anything domestic or even European imports in the UK. Blueblood, LVC, Corpus, Evisu, Nudie, are much more expensive London than in LA or NYC. London prices make NYC prices look like everything is on discount. Corpus and 5EP are available for under $200 in the US, the former available for under $150 if you know where to look. Blueblood can be had for $125 on sale in LA. In the UK, 100 pounds doesn't get you nearly as far for US brands. And don't even think of buying the more mainstream US brands in the UK, unless you like paying double, in which case, buy in the US, then PM me, and I'll tell you where you can send you excess cash.

With that in mind, there are some really decent UK, European and Japanese brands that are difficult to find in the US. Atelier being one of them. Of the more mainstream brands, I would recommend One True Saxon if you are into the skater look, Seal Kay for something a little more mainstream, and Firetrap and if you are into the cheap and easy. Duffer has pretty decent denim nearly inaccessible in the US, and does YMC.

Speaking of which, you should definitely check out the Londons streetwear places. I would highly recommend YMC (You Must Create), 6876 (which is pretty much inaccessible outside the UK and Japan, and is great for basics with a twist (hate that term - I lknow everyone else does too, sorry), Maharishi if you like skater influenced stuff, and Duffer, as ringring has suggested already.

Also, in addition to ringring's suggestions for multibrand stores (Duffer is, but the main draw there is their house line), I would recommend that you visit Browns (designer) and Browns Focus (directional) on Molton Street, which carry some of the coolest gear in London.

 

[RJman]

Richard James in Savile Row has great jeans.

 

[hermes]

also hit carnaby street and seven dials district for streetwear

and i agree with LAguy, the prices in london are ridiculous as even with a VAT refund, it's still cheaper to buy elsewhere

 

[arenn1]

Thanks for the info, gents.

 

[dorian]

Richard James in Savile Row has great jeans.

Seriously?

 

[sensible]

Harrods and Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge also worth a look. Harvey Nicks does Paper Denim Cloth, Helmut Langs, J. Lindeburg, Rogan, True Religion, DSquared, Diesel, and For All Mankind (I think) plus some one offs based on Levis and Pepe which are nicer than they sound. All *highly* expensive, though.

Cinch on Newburgh Street (near Carnaby Street) is a Levis owed store doing their Red label.

 

[LA Guy]

Harrods and Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge also worth a look.  Harvey Nicks does Paper Denim Cloth, Helmut Langs, J. Lindeburg, Rogan, True Religion, DSquared, Diesel, and For All Mankind (I think) plus some one offs based on Levis and Pepe which are nicer than they sound. All *highly* expensive, though.

Cinch on Newburgh Street (near Carnaby Street) is a Levis owed store doing their Red label.

As I said, if anyone not living in the UK feels the need to pay the UK rate for US brand jeans in London, PM me, and I would be quite willing to get you the same product and charge you double retail.

 

[RJman]

Quote:

(RJMan @ May 22 2005,12:12) Richard James in Savile Row has great jeans.
Seriously?
IMHO, yes. Of course, there's a reason I call myself RJman, and there's some fellow who groused about their not having 30" waist jeans for him. If I had a 30" waist I'd be grinning like a dog with two dicks. Needless to say, RJ makes a jean that fits me. You could probably pay less for jeans of similar quality, but I'm certain you could pay more for less too.

 

[Brian SD]

5EP are available for under $200 in the US

please divulge.

 

[LA Guy]

Quote:

5EP are available for under $200 in the US
please divulge.
Well, for 5EP, I was a little off, but still, close. Go to reesycakes.com, and get a 20% coupon code. Then go to active endeavors and find the men's denim. the resin straightleg is $278, so the total is $222.4, shipping included. Best deal I've seen yet. Briefly, there was a 30% coupon, which brought the total just under $200, but apparently Active endeavors got in trouble with vendors for this. I checked Brian, the smallest size is 31, a bit bigger than your usual size (31 is still 5 sizes smaller than the average American male), but I from my limited experience, (mainly at American Rag) 5EP fit pretty slim. BTW, I just got the "Crest" shirt from Breatbeat Science. Great fitting, soft shirts (I think that they use the same shirts as the DSGN people do), and some nifty designs. Some of their artist edition shirts from this season are really pretty cool. The older shirts are too, but the fit and materials are a little more hit and miss. And if you are still on the forum, dude from Perplex and Sola, nice tees on virginthreads.com. Not really my style, but cool.

 

[arenn1]

Hi. I'm in London as we speak. Clothing prices are ridiculous here, so it's definitely not worth buying anything you can get at home, even with a VAT refund. I checked out Duffer. That Atelier LaDurance was definitely a cool jean, but they did not have my size. Duffer in general seemed to assume your waist was a max 30 inches. Anyplace else stock these while I'm here?

Thanks, Aaron.