All Denim, All the Time

Photo: Danny Kim

Micah Charles Phillips, pastry chef
“I travel a lot and I have limited closet space, so I just wear denim. It’s comfortable and durable. I’ve been dressing like this forever. A buddy I met in Copenhagen kept asking me why I was wearing a Canadian tuxedo. I guess I’m ignorant that way, but I still don’t get the reference.”

Photo: Danny Kim

Rachael Wang, stylist
“I’ve been collecting since, like, fifth grade, when I’d peruse the piles of jeans at the flea market with my mom. Once a jeans girl, always a jeans girl. Never washing them makes for a great look, but I have a bit of a hygiene issue with that. So I’ll wear them a few times, then soak them in a bath.”

Photo: Danny Kim

Sergei Zolotariov, designer-owner of First Standard Co.
“I was born in the Soviet Union, and denim was forbidden fruit. When I came to the States, I started collecting. I started my own line of jeans, jackets, shirts in 2007. It’s about taking denim to a higher level, making products unique by changing and customizing the details. I like to roll my cuffs high and mix up the periods.”

Photo: Danny Kim

Jonny Corndawg, country musician
“I don’t do fancy jeans. I wear Wrangler’s Cowboy Cut slim-fit, 32-32. That’s my jam. Once I get the Wrangler’s, I take them in a half-inch in each leg, and it’s perfect. When I was growing up, my dad used to make sleeping bags and cowboy boots, so he showed me how to use a sewing machine. I even make my own labels for them. I cut off the Wrangler patch and sew my own “JC” leather patch to the butt.”

Photo: Danny Kim

Robert Nuovo, historian
“I’ve been collecting since the seventies. My father was a buyer in the denim business back then. I buy and sell some, but hold onto things that I love. I have probably 25 pairs right now. I have a good eye for detail and can mentally put a date on whatever I see. I’m a geek that way.”

All Denim, All the Time