Today, designers are getting more creative with denim than ever before, and that just might be the reason jean sales are at an all-time high. Vintage Levi's — and really, any type of baby blues — are having a more-than-one-season-long moment. But it's those next-generation denim brands that have our attention captured — and our butts looking good.
You know those DIY pieces you can spot from a mile (or an Instagram scroll) away? Well, Alex Kennedy's denim brand ALXVNDRA is quite possibly the reigning queen of that. Giving the illusion of two different-wash pairs sewn together, Kennedy's jeans offer that viral Vetements aesthetic at a fraction of the price (and with a handmade, small-business feel, to boot). Kennedy crafts all the pieces — strictly available in limited quantities — herself, which she's been doing since day one. "A friend of mine who owns a vintage boutique called Blue Velvet Detroit gifted me a ton of vintage Levi's," she says. "From there I made myself a pair, and then decided to release them as a capsule collection."
Though we came across ALXVNDRA on social media, Kennedy's pieces have now made their way into Shop Super Street's merchandise offering. Just don't expect them to show up at a mall near you, because Kennedy tells us that she's planning on keeping her operation on a very small scale. "I have had interest from retailers around the U.S. and overseas about the jeans, but decided to remain exclusive, selling them only through the ALXVNDRA showroom in Detroit and Shop Super Street in Los Angeles," she says. "I make each pair myself, so producing them on a large scale isn't realistic or something I'm interested in doing. That's what makes these capsule collections special; they're all limited in quantities and availability."
Despite their popularity, these cool-girl jeans aren't Kennedy's only project. Jeans by ALXVNDRA was released with the idea that it would give her some momentum and street cred for her debut line of leather goods, Accessories by ALXVNDRA, set to launch this fall. "Across the board, reconstructed denim has been a trend over the past year. Jeans by ALXVNDRA is my own take on that trend. My background is in accessory design, so sewing denim and making garments is always fun for me and very different from sewing leather and making handbags," she adds.
Plus, along with the denim and accessories, Kennedy is also working on creating a showroom space in Southwest Detroit with select vintage, designer archival pieces (from labels like Comme des Garçons, Yohji Yamamoto, and Maison Martin Margiela), rare fashion and photography books, and periodicals, with the goal of being a resource for emerging designers and others with similar interests. Talk about a #girlboss.
So, while we can't promise that these rad jeans will be around forever, we're already looking forward to her next equally Instagram-worthy creation. Keep an eye on this space, which we'll be updating as soon as her next project hits the virtual shelves.
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