I’ve known about Rising Sun for a surprising amount of time to have never visited them in person. I’ve spent years traveling across the country working on jobs in LA temporarily and noticed them when I used to visit friends in Pasadena and how incredible their shop looked. The American Classic wasn’t what it is now back then and I was lacking the confidence to galavant into a store, camera in tow, and start shooting. Rising Sun invited me out to their incredible workshop/retail space which has now moved to Eagle Rock, CA (not far from Pasadena and downtown Los Angeles) and I was more than happy to make the trek. Click here to read the full article.

Rising Sun was founded by Mike Hodis (ex-Lucky Brand) in his garage after reexamining his career path. Here’s a few words from him:

“It started as an experiment based in idealism….I wanted to create and produce Jeans that utilized the best American made components and have it be finished through and through on American soil by the best Craftsmen. It started in my garage with a handful of Vintage Industrial sewing machines and the desire to make things differently than the trend at the time, which was to send production overseas for more profit.

The overall aesthetic is based in traditional tailoring techniques and good balanced design. Less is more in our book. There are quite a few details in the construction and stitching of our garments that are hidden from the outside view, and we believe that they are equally as important as the outside details.”

First and foremost: if you’re sick of workwear as menswear, time to stop reading. The thing to understand about Rising Sun is they do many things well but the one that speaks loudest to me is historical garment replication. These guys base almost all, if not actually all, of their products off of real original products from the 1800s forward. While this may not sound like something you’re interested in, in actuality it really fucking is. We preach about durability, handcrafting, made in America, etc. and we know a lot of brands that make a lot of things really, really well. Rising Sun is a unique case combining our sartorial longings of perfect-fitting workwear with actual functionality. These things are durable as hell. The duck cloth and canvas used is of an incredible grade that I haven’t seen utilized before. A lot of their internal promotional materials read “SELVEDGE DENIM” or something to the effect; the company’s title is also Rising Sun Jeans. Denim, while definitely their strongest suit, is not the only material they work with. Their shirts and pants come in a variety of fabrics that are equally as worthy of your interest and dollars.

The workshop/retail space is like a library of yester-year’s manufacturing techniques; the meeting room for Rising Sun is filled with research pieces and mood boards dedicated to future project development. Their collection of sewing machines, button-attachers, riveters and more (all industry terms, of course) surpasses all other companies I have visited. That being said, all production takes place in house. From research to design to manufacturing and sales, everything happens under one roof, compact enough to yell across the building from the sewing room to the shipping department. While the shop is open Monday-Friday (call ahead to make certain they’re there), visiting on Saturday almost guarantees you some time to chat with Mike and get the full tour of his product. Rising Sun is an asset in the sea of look-alike small-batch denim manufacturers and while the price tag may be too steep for you right now, someday their siren song of “attention-to-detail” will surely reel you in.

]]> http://theamericanclassic.org/2013/05/20/field-trip-rising-sun-co/feed/ 0 louithefish rising_sun_masthead_WEB risingsundenim-4448 risingsundenim-4449 risingsundenim-4464 risingsundenim-4479 risingsundenim-4526 risingsundenim-4527 risingsundenim-4497 risingsundenim-4494 risingsundenim-4483 risingsundenim-4547 risingsundenim-4546 risingsundenim-4542 risingsundenim-4540 risingsundenim-4539 risingsundenim-4535 http://theamericanclassic.org/2013/05/06/the-standard-relay-los-angeles-bicycle-superhighway-loufest-2013-secret-forts-visits-ica-boston-and-adobe-creative-cloud/ http://theamericanclassic.org/2013/05/06/the-standard-relay-los-angeles-bicycle-superhighway-loufest-2013-secret-forts-visits-ica-boston-and-adobe-creative-cloud/#comments Mon, 06 May 2013 19:17:59 +0000 A. Frankel http://theamericanclassic.org/?p=2715 ]]>

I’ve been saying it forever, we need something exactly like this here in LA. Granted, my idea involves high-speed conveyor belts and a sorting system for people who are really good at riding bikes vs. people who actually don’t know how to ride one. A bicycle superhighway that connects portions of Los Angeles once almost actually happened. Found this via A Continuous Lean, though the original article is published on Vice.

Look, I’m not a big festival go-er. There was a time and place where I went to Lollapalooza every year for a few years but those years are long gone. No festival until now has tempted me even for a moment to go back and relive hot, sweaty, and extraordinarily painful days of unwillingly rubbing body parts with other hot, sweaty humans. LouFest has been around for a few years in some form or another and this year the lineup is actually kick ass. Plus it’s in my hometown of St. Louis, MO. which I rarely have a good reason to visit (aside from family). Some of the highlights (for me) include Wilco, The National, Alabama Shakes, Jim James, Trampled by Turtles, and one of my personal favorites: J. Roddy Walston & the Business. Tickets are cheap, $95 for 2 days or if you’re rich and like free booze/food, $250 for 2 days. Check. It. Out. As an additional note, I don’t think any festival allows this aside from maybe Bonnaroo or more likely ROMP Bluegrass but Gear Patrol has just released a list of “festival must-haves”, so-to-speak. Worth it if you like gearing up for events.

James Wilson from Secret Forts took a trip w/ the dudes from Hickoree’s/The Hill-Side on their delivery of a special run of The Hill-Side goods to the ICA in Boston. Cool photos ensued.

We use Adobe on a daily basis for literally everything. They announced today that there will be no CS7 which is really huge news in tons of ways. Think about it; traditionally this heavyweight software suite which is catastrophically taxing on your bank account has suddenly become available for a monthly fee and can be downloaded. What?! Jesus. Half of our team is already using it. Now to get the other half moving…Includes regular updates to all software and all future versions in your monthly fee.

Hank USA is trying to make our job easier. They’re a brand new web shop peddling only American-made goods with killer curating tactics, collaborations, and good photography. What does that mean for literally everyone who reads this site? A better experience in finding the best stuff made in the USA all in one spot. They’re starting small with some very carefully curated items, a few collaborations and a couple of original products. They’ve separated their shop into three general categories: originals, collaborations, and brands they love. Couldn’t be simpler. Click here to read our interview and see all of the photos.

Here’s a few words from co-founder Adam Rice:

“Part of the inspiration for Hank was where we grew up as kids. We weren’t in the city, but my co-founders and I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit and we saw firsthand what the departure of a manufacturing base did to the city.

Prior to Hank, the three of us ran a short-lived lifestyle blog that focused mainly on style. Through our blog, we discovered a lot of great brands that produce clothing and other goods domestically. However, no one place existed to buy these goods. Additionally, a lot of these brands don’t have the time or resources necessary to build and maintain great websites.

So, I would say that it was our interest in style coupled with our desire to support American manufacturers that inspired us to start Hank. It’s hard to believe, but we’ve been working on the site since last September so we’re really excited to get it out there. We have some really exciting plans for this fall, too. ”

Currently their brand list contains Pointer Brand, Rogue Territory, Parrott Canvas, Ebbets Field, Columbiaknit, Two Feet Ahead, Field Notes, Portland General Store, and Sanborn Canoe Co. with a few collaborations and plenty of original product on the horizon for the F/W season ahead.

The dudes at Hank were nice enough to send us their incredible collaborative bag done with Parrott Canvas along with one of their Slim Wallets which was created by the skilled folks at Gfeller Casemakers along with a pretty rad Hank-branded Los Angeles tee. We took the gear out and gave it a spin.

Let me be absolutely clear on this backpack: it’s incredibly gorgeous. The photos cannot possibly do it justice. I’ve been on an Indigo kick for nearly four years with no sign of rehab soon and while this bag is not indigo dyed canvas, it sure as hell looks like it. This is heavy weight fabric; not your typical Jansport stuff. Given it’s waxed nature and my truthfully fairly extensive experience with waxed canvas goods, I can attest to the fact that this bag is going to look kick ass after a few years of use. The zippers (there’s two of them) on this bag are insanely heavy duty. The kind of stuff you’re terrified as a kid but realize are just super well made as you get older and grow to appreciate quality goods. I’d go so far as to say that if you knock this zipper off track it’s your own damn fault. The straps are padded with some nice wool felt and stitched so that those things will never ever fall apart. Hank sourced some incredible aniline chromexcel leather from Horween in Chicago (note: every awesome Made in USA leather goods company that your’e all about uses Horween in some aspect of their production). That means that the bottom of this bag is durable and is going to look just as cool as the waxed uppers. They’ve also tucked a nice key holder into the front pocket to snag your keys so it doesn’t blow out your pockets (happened to me) or get lost along your ways.

The slim wallet is a great little number especially for dudes who travel particularly light. It has two slots and the leather flexes a surprising amount to accommodate several cards and your modest (but still well-endowed) cash horde. Excited to carry this thing for a few weeks and see how that natural leather ages. If my Tanner Goods natural belt is any indication it’s gonna’ be pretty.

As a total testament to the products in Hank’s inventory, I’ve owned a lot of the stuff they sell for some time now. I’ve had the Pointer Brand chore coat for a few years and it’s snuck it’s way into a lot of our photo shoots. The coat gets prettier every time I wear it and though it’s been mostly sequestered to outdoor field shoots and occasional days of poor weather, I still love breaking it out. They sell the exact pair of Rogue Territory’s I wear daily (check out our interview and visit w/ Karl, the owner of Rogue Territory, here). They sell the bath products I use from Portland General Store. Call it coincidence but I know good stuff when I see it. I fully stand behind all products in their inventory. I’m very excited to see how Hank shapes out as a brand and I’m sure their future original products and special collaborations will be something to behold.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks here in Los Angeles. It seems like the number of cars on the road has tripled yet again, thereby increasing the number of moron drivers and hence, accidents. Getting anywhere takes forever and I find myself frequently nearly in tears, shaking the steering wheel violently as I sob my commuting woes to Ira Glass on the This American Life podcast (he’s a terrible listener). Sometimes when things get this bad, when they’re really to the point where by the time you get to the office you’re already spent, you need to get the hell out of dodge. Which is what I did this weekend. Click here to read the full article.

My girlfriend Amy has been experiencing quite similar things with her daily routine so we did a little last-minute research and found some hot springs in Ojai, CA. which is situated about an hour and a half north of our home in Santa Monica. We snagged some requisite In-N-Out before hitting the road about 9pm and breezed through some light traffic up to the general area of Ojai. After getting off the highway, the directions we got from a friend-of-a-friend combined with what we read online quickly became fuzzy. It was dark and there weren’t many street signs or lights and the landmarks mentioned had all but disappeared.

We stopped at a Starbucks (it was that or McDonald’s, gimme’ a break) and asked for directions but to no avail. Some older ladies listening on mentioned there were some hot springs further up the road but they had been closed for a long time. We saw the sign for those springs and, noting that the gate was padlocked and no trespassing signs were up, we sped onwards into the night thinking there may be others further up the road.

We stopped at the visitors center at the Los Padres National Park, just up the hill and through a few musty smelling tunnels from the front entrance. The visitors center consists of a few dark cabins and a trailer with a sign in lights that says “Camp Host”. As we pulled in, a man stepped out of the trailer and turned off the lights to the Camp Host sign. Taking this as a warning, we turned back to the road and sped off into the forest. 15 miles up we decided to stop, having lost all cell signals and feeling pretty discouraged at not finding anything remotely like what we were looking for. I cut the engine, turned off the lights and we stepped out of the car. I’ve been a city dweller for nearly six years now and having grown up on the outskirts of an urban midwestern city I’m no stranger to light pollution. Even when we head to the mountains in Colorado, the stars don’t look like this. It was beautiful and there wasn’t a single light in sight. Anywhere. How rare is that, these days?

It’s worth noting, at this point, that I casually mentioned to Amy that this was sounding a hell of a lot like a terrible horror film; she was not amused.

We headed back down to get some cell reception and did a bit more research. After reading the local’s “FUCK YOU, CITY FOLK” comments on several forums (and eventually completely disregarding them), we found some spotty directions to what we were after. Basically you drive through some deep country roads for about 30 minutes until you see some cars parked on either side of the road. Then get out and walk. It’s worth noting, at this point, that I casually mentioned to Amy that this was sounding a hell of a lot like a terrible horror film; she was not amused.

We drove and drove and finally came across the cars in the dark with some people shuffling around with lanterns and towels and figured this must be the place. We changed into our swim gear in the back seat and followed the trickle of people into the bushes. It was pitch black and we couldn’t see a damn thing without our cell phone light (note: bring a flashlight if you ever do this) and made our way down a steep dirt and shrub-packed hill to the creek bed. Here we found small pools in the creek bed rocks full of people basking in the sulfurous springs.

This is not luxurious, do not bring your children here, if you aren’t comfortable with your body and a little bit of unknown-nasty then this sure as shit ain’t for you.

Admittedly at this point, I was ready to bag it. The wafting smell of marijuana smoke mixed with the sulfur from the hot springs was enough to make anyone say no thanks but Amy was just about knee deep into a pool with three other people so turning back was not an option. Looking around, we realized that about half of the people soaking in the springs were naked. Some of them were boozing, some of them were smoking, but no one really seemed to care that we were there or really what we did so we proceeded with our plan. Let me be clear about the scene that took place here: this is not luxurious, do not bring your children here, if you aren’t comfortable with your body and a little bit of unknown-nasty then this sure as shit ain’t for you.

The springs weren’t “hot” though certainly warmer than body temperature and eventually getting out was going to be a miserable experience as it was only getting later and colder outside. Beers were passed around and our new friends in our pool were, peculiarly, smoking clove cigarettes. We chatted for a while with occasional lulls in conversation, during which Amy and I would say things like “holy shit, can you believe we’re doing this?” and our new friends would say things like “SOMEBODY TURN ON THE JETS WHERE’S THE HOT TUB BUTTON”.

After we’d had our fill of odd locals and the rest of the aforementioned strangeness, we decided to call it a night. We said our goodbyes and frigidly made our way back to the car. We rolled back into Santa Monica around 2am and, after thoroughly showering the sulphur stank off of ourselves, slept hard. I didn’t feel rejuvenated the next day because we slept for a solid 9 hours (which is rare) or because of the sulphur and other minerals that soaked into our skin the night before (read: spilled beer); I felt better about everything because we got away to somewhere that looks, feels, and (sheesh) even smells different. We didn’t go on vacation, we came back the same night, though the next day felt like we had been away forever. It doesn’t cost anything more than your time and some petty cash to get out of town and put whatever grievances you may have behind you. We did the whole thing for no more than $50 and could have eaten at home instead and saved some dough. It will be a pleasure for me to see where this series takes us but I hope you’ll read along and maybe decide it’s time for you, too, to get the fuck out.∗

I visited Mollusk Surf Shop’s Venice Beach location a few weekends ago. I don’t surf though wish I did and wasn’t nearly cool enough to be taking photos in this place (the shopkeepers were somewhat wary of my being there) but if you do in fact surf or are marginally interested in surfing culture, this place has something to offer for you. Cool clothes, awesome art books and surfing videos, surfing gear, etc. If I were to surf, this is where I’d likely outfit myself. Their original location is in San Francisco and at one point they had one in NYC, though my understanding is that the NYC location is now closed. This is a recommended stop if you’re touring the Venice Beach area. It’s an easy one-block walk off of the famed boardwalk. Click here to see all of the images.