Outerknown Fine-Tunes Its Jean Fits
When Outerknown launched its Social Environmental Accountability (SEA) jeans in 2018, the eco-conscious California lifestyle label made “such a big deal” about how responsibly-made the jeans were, it’s the only thing people talked about.
This time around, Outerknown wants to emphasize something else: the fit.
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“We don’t want to just be the most responsible jeans out there,” co-founder and creative director John Moore said. “We want to be the best.”
So, the brand—co-founded by pro-surfer Kelly Slater and Moore in 2015—“obsessed about the fit” and updated existing fits for men and essentially started over for women.
“We were looking at the market to see what we are missing from our previous women’s line and tried to navigate toward finding that missing piece of data,” Julie Jeon, Outerknown’s product development director, said, noting the brand previously operated in extremes. “So looking at the market to see what’s relevant and what’s missing for Outerknown, I think that’s how we landed on the five fits.”
It was also, Moore noted, trial and error: going through the development process, trying the pieces on different body types and heights and moving forward with the cuts that were the most flattering on everybody.
“We really tried to have a mix of essentials and something that’s a little more directional,” he said.
The collection spans three new men’s styles and four new styles for women.
The men’s Dunes is a classic straight leg jean made with 100 percent organic cotton denim. The Cove is a slim jean with comfort stretch. The Beachcomber Relaxed jean was initially designed as a cozy fit for men, but after seeing how great they looked on both men and women, the brand made it a universal-fitting jean—one silhouette for all.
For the women’s line, the Brook is defined as a modern wide-leg with a subtle stove-pipe leg opening. The Costa Crop is a curve-flattering cropped bootcut jean with a raw hem. The Point Skinny is designed to sit at the small of the waist with a form-fitting shape that accentuates curves and lengthens legs. The Strand is a high-rise straight jean made with organic cotton denim.
The Beachcomber cut-off short is modeled after a pair of perfectly fitting vintage shorts.
Every piece in the Sea collection was cut, sewn and washed in Los Angeles at Saitex’s sustainable denim factory. True to the SEA jean collection’s original promise, each pair is guaranteed for life.
“The good feeling that we hope you have is you feel good because you know it was made responsibly, but you also feel great because they fit awesome,” Moore said. “I think if we can achieve both of those, we’re really winning.”
The collection retails for $158-$228 and is now available at Outerknown’s stores and website.
