LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- What is the American fascination with jeans all about? We gobble up a third of the world's population of denim material, generating an annual $415 billion in business with over 5% growth per year. I have been making jeans for men and shirts for men for decades, and as a designer I remain eternally curious about denim's place in American culture.
Syndicated conservative columnist George Will has referred to denim condescendingly as "an obnoxious use of freedom." He agreed with Wall Street Journal writer Daniel Akst, who wrote that jean material represents a "modern trend toward undifferentiated dressing, in which we all strive to look equally shabby."
George Will and Daniel Akst have accidentally hit on an essential truth about American culture in general and the fashion phenomenon of denim in particular. They deride denim as a degradation of the American aesthetic, but it so much more than that. Indeed, denim embodies one of the most quintessentially American of all trends: that of rebellion. Those same celebrated notions of "rugged individualism" and "non-conformity" that defined Manifest Destiny and the Old West have found a home in modern America's peculiar obsession with denim.
The US denim story began during the California gold rush. The people of that era said famously, "Go west, young man," and the young man turned his path toward the Pacific...clad in denim. And when the cry for rebellion against the "Leave it to Beaver" lifestyle of the 1950's was heard, the angry young men of America responded...clad in denim. On their heels came the hippies of the 1960's, the punk movement of the 1970's, and the hip hop generation of the 1980's...a wave of denim crashing on the shores of conventionality. Which brings us to today, when denim is no longer relegated to jeans for men or shirts for men, but has become a fashion fixture in virtually every demographic.
Will and Askt offer an overly simplistic view of denim's role in American society. Yes, it is a manifestation of underlying disorders in the American psyche. But denim has been, and will continue to be, an inseparable part of the cathartic cycle that serves to heal and renew this nation. Denim is an aesthetic response to deep problems in the social condition and social structure of the United States. Graft and inequality pervades the justice system, the economy, and the halls of political power. So when I see some passionate protester on the street corner lambasting the social ills of America, I look for that tell-tale flash of denim...and I smile.
If you are interested in learning more about the diverse array of jeans, shirts, jackets, and other designer apparel available from Angelino, peruse our user-friendly site at http://angelino.us/. You can also contact us directly via telephone at 818-771-0093.
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