#BreakingDenim with Nudie Jeans: One Year Later

New York lifestyle photos & all denim flat and detail photos by Velvet Sea Media; San Francisco lifestyle photos by Matthew Reamer; Seattle lifestyle photos by Thomas Akin; Los Angeles & Chicago lifestyle by Sean Klingelhoefer; animations by Studio 30

What does a year of wear and tear look like on a pair of jeans? If they’re Nudie jeans, really good.

Don’t believe? Peep the finale of the Swedish brand’s #breakingdenim campaign: five guys, five cities, five pairs of jeans, one year.

Here is post #1. This is post 2, with full documentation of a year in the field.

Shop: Nudie

SEA: Alex Kostelnik, 2020 Cycle

Out of the year, I probably wore the jeans 250 times. I was already a Nudie wearer. I had this amazing girlfriend who taught me how to wear pants. She told me to get really good ones, then crawl under the house in them so they get dirty, then put on some leather shoes and you can go out to dinner. That’s why they’re not “expensive.” Because that’s the look! Worn jeans look good, when they’re really good jeans and they fit you. But they need to be good jeans, and they need to be kinda tight.

Do you know Jack Wilson? A local singer who moved back to Austin? Kind of an alt-country guy. I bought him a pair of Nudies, since he was wearing baggy Wranglers for years. And he was like, “I got laid three days later, bro.”

You wear ‘em a lot, you don’t wash ‘em much, and they just look good.

I got into Nudie jeans about ten years ago. They started as a very straightforward, honest company and still are.

NYC: Dylan Hales, The Randolph Group

The idea was to wear them every day, and don’t wash them. I wore mine probably out of the 365 days, you could probably say the full 365. I didn’t wash them ever in a machine. I washed them once, hand-washed them, because they had dirty, New York City grime on them. I took them into the shower with me, actually.

There’s lots of great creases on the back, and on the knees. By the end, there was a little hole by my cell phone. I have an iPhone 5. Hard edges, no case.

There’s plenty of wear on the knees, which comes from literally working on your knees in bars and restaurants.

I’m not really a blog guy. I just live in real life.

LA: Tyler Wells, Blacktop Coffee

They held up real good. When I turned ‘em in, the crotch had been repaired four or five times, there was a hole in the left pocket. There’s a repair shop in Los Angeles. Nudie offers free repairs for life. Phil in the repair shop, that’s my guy. Sometimes he repairs my jeans on the spot. But that could be because I bring him booze.

I wore these pants 340 days out of the year. I rode a bicycle in them, did some traveling, a couple motorcycle trips, went swimming in them. Some gardening. A little rockclimbing.

I was a Nudie jeans wearer, had been for a long time. Nudie sponsors us as a coffee company. We’ve got selvedge aprons. Their jeans just fit really good, but their commitment to ethics is crucial. Being in the hospitality industry, I know it’s really important to treat everyone fairly all along the way.



SF: Jonah Buffa, Fellow Barber

Fellow Barber is one of the best barber shops in San Francisco, or California. Guys are coming in all day long looking for men’s style, men’s fashion. It’s something we do. We’re always trying to dress our best.

Out of the year, I wore them all the time, so probably in a given week, at least four days a week. A few of my barbers wore them, too, and they got a few holes. Nudie repaired them. They repair jeans for you. Mine definitely got worn in the legs, and around the pockets. I’m not too hard on my gear.

CHI: Andy Hayward, Tour Manager (Death Cab for Cutie)

The story was how the jeans break in over a year. I did not have any problems with the pants. I would say I wore them at least five days a week. So, a lot. During that year I was just going everyday work, tour managing a band, touring a country.

I met Death Cab years ago when they were much smaller at a club. Just sort of friended them, and now we’re a touring rock band. It was the Metro in Chicago. They were touring Transatlanticism. That was 2003.

I’ve subbed and helped out with other bands. But this is definitely a full-time job. It’s a family situation at this point. Everyone’s been together, band and crew, for a really long time. They’re really responsible, nice and smart. The after show for us is basically figuring out which baseball game we’re going to watch on MLB network.

Shop: Nudie