Who is Ande Whall? Part I

When asked who Ande Whall is I usually start with He is a guy in New Zealand with some sewing machines at home (he just acquired a chainstitcher) and some awesome denim. Although that may sound like an oversimplification this usually impresses my audience of the next two minutes since he or she probably works in the industry and knows how difficult it is to put together a quality pair of jeans.



In fact one of the beauties of supporting up-and-coming designers is to see their growth through construction details. Every upgrade in sewing details is a physical manifestation of their passion and talent.

My first pair of Ande Whall jeans showed up about six months ago and the slim Grifter model was an instant success with fashion industry professionals who admired the modern fit. Others were curious about the "Ande Whall" signature I requested to be placed on the backside of the jeans near the hem. Being able to customize the jeans was supremely gratifying.



I even sent in my own fabric, which was an especially light American selvage denim. I decided on this fabric after my many visits to the beach last summer. At 11.25 oz it is the perfect hot weather weight. At the time I was also inspired by designer Thom Browne and so asked Ande to cut the inseam much shorter than I otherwise would have wanted. In this post I share the results after six months of daily wearing plus a home machine wash and dry (the jeans were originally raw).






The back pocket took a beating from holding coins at all times.




This is the first time I have experienced such interesting looking, destructed honeycombs. It is probably due to the combination of a very tight fitting jean and a lightweight denim being worn continuously.





The blue and pink selvage lines are not only appropriate for a lighthearted summer but functional too. If this material is ever bleached (eg, during industrial washing) the blue line disappears since it is not colorfast.





In the next Ande Whall post we will review some of the exciting jeans construction details Ande is working on. Stay tuned!

Ande Whall Website