Heddels Blowout

As consumers, we have the tiniest window into how the products we use are made. Maybe you get a single country of origin or the fiber content, but that hides the many other chemicals, countries, and suppliers that contributed to its production. Andrew Olah has been in the upstream world of denim and clothing production for nearly 50 years and has run the Kingpins Show , one of the biggest markets...

Happy Labor Day in the US, it's time for us to reflect on the hard fought labor rights victories we enjoy in this country...AND SAVE! We're taking 25% off all of our Teamster Union Made tees and hoodies this weekend. So tune in to hear about the origins of Labor Day the holiday, the current status of our fall trend predictions, and David's bleach eccentricities. And get a great deal on a tee made...

To hear the full episode, join at: http://heddels.plus So last week we talked about the personal aspects of climate change in regards to some practices we can all do to reduce our own impact. But as we all know and even mentioned, the actions of an individual, even all you beautiful individuals reading right now is like one drop removed from the rising ocean. We need policy and regulation enforced...

That UN climate report was a doozy, wasn't it? While we've been mulling the habitable future of the planet over, we thought it was a good time to revisit some old practices one can do to make the most infinitesimal dent in the human impact on the climate. While the real change that needs to happen is systemic policy regulation, Reed and I discuss some easy habits you can do to reduce consumption a...

To hear the full episode and much more, subscribe below: http://heddels.plus A move is not an uncommon occurrence in the life of a retail store, but moving to the opposite side of the country is. Division Road is picking up roots in its original home in downtown Seattle and headed some 3,000 miles east to a rural plot just outside Charlottesville, Virginia. We talk with owner Jason Pecarich about...

Japanese brand Kapital's latest Kountry collection created waves in ways they didn't expect (but probably should've) when its "Free Tibet" imagery awakened thousands and thousands of angry comments on Instagram, putting the release in jeopardy. Kapital photographer Eric Kvatek rejoins us to discuss what happened and his own photoshopped response to the incident. We also discuss our fall trend pred...

We finally get a long read of the entire Alden embezzlement controversy, lament things that have been confiscated by the TSA, and Albert has a Champs gift card we can't figure out how to spend. All that and more on this week's Blowout! Support the show by becoming a Heddels+ member (first month free with code EXTRABLOWOUT) and by visiting the Heddels Shop (10% off with code BLOWOUT). Also email us...

The year is 1990: Michael Bolton is on the radio, the first McDonald's opens in Moscow, and a group of carnivorous worms known as "graboids" are terrorizing the residents of a remote Nevada town called Perfection. The world may have changed, but the looks live on as Reed, Albert, David and former Heddels editor Gerald Ortiz dig deep on this creature horror classic. Hear about the sunbaked denim, b...

To hear the full episode, become a Heddels+ member here: http://heddels.plus A recent study found that "sewing machine operator" was number 7 of the jobs with the greatest increased risk of death during the pandemic in California. Reed, David, and Albert discuss the implications and the dark realities of the people who make our clothes, even in a country where we would hope workers have the greate...

If you've perused any Fade Fridays, you may have noticed some of the most impressive fades come from Indonesia. But more recently, some of the most impressive boots are coming out of the country as well. We talk with Ben Robinson, Editor in Chief of Stitchdown.com and one of the foremost western experts and consumers of Indonesian footwear about how the Indonesian scene developed, some of the make...

Join Heddels+ to hear the full episode: http://heddels.plus The big sea change in the fashion industry appears to be that fur is going the way of the dodo. Just this week, luxe parka maker Canada Goose announced they would be joining labels like Burberry and Prada in ending the use of fur in their collections. We've got that plus the willful destruction of perfectly good product, Reed's takedown o...

Happy 4th of July, may all your limbs stay attached! We watched the quintessential summer movie Jaws , which just so happens to coincide with the restock of our Quint Caps . Hear our thoughts on the clothes, the characters, and how it feels like a way to prescient parable for pandemic living. Pick up a Quint Cap for 20% today and today only with the code AMITYMEANSFRIENDSHIP . Or become a Heddels+...

If you've followed the show for any time, you're aware that I (David) don't buy much. It has been over a year since I have bought any new garment for myself, until that streak was broken with a pair of Engineered Garments x Sebago moccasins...that I immediately returned due to low quality. However, the store I returned them to (Lost & Found) has a policy of only store credit for returns. Consi...

Join Heddels+ to hear the full episode: http://heddels.plus If you're American and you're listening to this episode, you probably own something Japanese. If you're Japanese and listening to this episode, you probably own something American. But you probably don't know the cultural histories of these countries nearly as well as Yumiko Sakuma ( @yumikosakuma ), a Japanese writer who has lived in and...

David waxes on about a recent trip to the mall and the future of retail, Albert discusses his new New Balance plug and a Saint Christopher medal, and Reed scored some ts(s). All that and more on this week's Blowout. If you like this episode and want to support the show, join Heddels+ for more episodes, exclusive discounts, and bi-weekly giveaways.

Do you know where your cotton came from? Probably not as the world of cotton buyers and sellers is about as murky as it gets. Blake Ulves, a clothing production vet who's made knits for the biggest retailers on the market talks to us about his new t-shirt project Sewn West, which represents his uncompromising idea of what a tee (and cotton) can be. Visit https://www.sewnwest.com/ for 15% off with...

Access the full episode by joining Heddels+ : https://www.heddels.com/join-heddels-plus/ You can own pants, but can you own all pants? Albert apparently does as he was recently gifted an NFT of the entire concept of pants as a whole. Listen to our uneducated discussions of NFTs, and our slightly more educated discussions of Converse potentially ripping off a potential intern, Etsy buying Depop, if...

Albert and David discuss North Korea's ban on denim and mullets and how it relates to denim behind the Iron Curtain in the Cold War as well as the reclaimed styles of French imperialism, long socks, and a breakdown of irregular denim. If you like this episode, be sure to join Heddels+ for discounts, giveaways, and more episodes. Also, here's our old piece on denim in the Soviet Union: https://www....

To listen to the full episode, join at http://heddels.plus Yes, I know Levi's got the patent on May 20, but they didn't even call it the 501 for like 20 years later. It doesn't make any sense. Aside from that, we chat about Nick Wooster's new NFT, Brendan Babenzien's move to J.Crew, weird shorts, and our personal history of mask usage in the past year. If you want to support brands and artisans in...

The weather is warm, masks are coming off, toes are coming out. David, Reed, and Albert discuss inexplicable English text on Japanese t-shirts, the possible comeback of Evisu, and the complexities of warm weather footwear. Plus Albert has an update on the abuse story at the Colorado franchises of vintage retailer Buffalo Exchange. Join Heddels+ for more episodes, exclusive discounts and giveaways,...

As much as we love to dress ourselves, we love to dress our pets even more. James and Reed discuss all the clothes and accessories, some from our favorite brands, and their canine equivalents.

Unlocked from our Heddels+ Blowout feed, the middle part of a Venn diagram that includes denim jackets, cults, and rampant abuse. We’re talking about Tony Alamo, and yes that’s spelled like Alamo as in “remember the” but it’s pronounced like Alamo. Regardless, he was about as despicable a human being as they come. From the late 60s onward, he ran a religious cult that separated families, forced pe...

The Canadian Olympic team announced their outfits this week and their closing ceremony jacket is a doozy. David, Reed, and Albert Muzquiz discuss that as well as the Met Gala's "American Fashion" theme, the benefits of Kapital basics, the new Aime Leon Dore New Balances, Albert's article on blazers, as well as ripping into a Federalist essay that claims overseas sweatshops are for girlbosses. If y...

In our last episode we talked about the earliest experiments of humans with aviation, which mostly included people covering themselves with feathers and jumping off of tall buildings. However, that lineage eventually got us to the Wright Brothers, who pioneered the first powered flight in 1903. They sold the first plane to the United States Army in 1909, but that would be far from the last plane b...

Strap in and put on your oxygen, we're taking off on another ambiguously long historical series! Aside from jeans, I can't think of another garment that tracks the history of the twentieth century better than the flight jacket. Starting in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903 and leading all the way to putting a man on the moon, the garments of aviation had to advance just as quickly as the aircraft...