SUPERFUTURE DENIM by sling & stones

[ilovespaz]

We've mentioned this before and there have been whispers on the board about it and I have been getting many inquiries in my inbox - but the question is, are enough people interested in finally having a Superfuture Denim?

What we were thinking was, for our pre-release to offer a project denim kit with every sale (slight added cost be we would eat a lot of it).

Each project denim kit would contain the appropriate yardage of denim, the pattern for your size, the buttons/rivets and backing and online we would be posting a video series on 'how to make your own denim using a home sewing machine' starring yours truly(we'll even show you how to make a single side selvage w/ a selvage waist band). For those not interested in doing it yourself you could go to a tailor or have us take care of it for an extra charge.

We want this denim to be distinctively Superfuture and to make this happen we would be having the people of this board vote on 7 key characteristics:

Denim Weight

Denim Color

Rivet Material

Button / Rivet Design

Patch Design (Artists get involved)

Fit

We would run two polls at a time and each poll will run for 7 days. Whatever gets the most votes would win (though in some cases we may have to default to the second highest vote getter, etc). Obviously we would use Japanese Selvage denim - there's no need to have a vote on that one

This will definitely be a premium denim and it will be exclusive to those who order from viewing this board.

The only caveat is this - in order to do what we'd like - get a denim from our mill, get custom buttons and rivets made, get patterns made, etc we would need to get 200 orders.

So - do you guys think there woudl be enough interest? Would you be interested? Any suggestions?

Just an idea right now...

Edited by ilovespaz on Jun 3, 2006 at 03:47 PM

[digital_denim]

I think most people will want a quote on price with just the kit and also if they just wanted the jeans made for them.

I'm definately interested.

[greentea]

me two.

[shoiebones]

If the price is right I would deffinatly be interested. Can any sewing machine handle denim? would some special tool be required for riviting? Making my own jeans would be great, but I wouldn't want to end up with a pile of nice denim that I couldn't do anything with.

[TaylorMADE]

If you could get a pair for a decent price, I would deffinetly be willing.

AIM: tdubb96

Email: [email protected]

[Noddy]

i am in... provided it's a skinny fit lol... anyway can we have a washed version.... don't u guys think that you have enough dry in your wardrobe?

[showbiz00ditc]

Quote:

i am in... provided it's a skinny fit lol... anyway can we have a washed version.... don't u guys think that you have enough dry in your wardrobe?

--- Original message by Noddy on Jun 3, 2006 06:47 PM

i can tell you now thats outta the question.

[justiz2]

I'm in provided the price is ok. Would prefer to have the finished product though, totally hopeless at sewing and don't really know any good tailor around here for jeans...

[justiz2]

I'm in provided the price is ok. Would prefer to have the finished product though, totally hopeless at sewing and don't really know any good tailor around here for jeans...

[chromesquared]

Id also like to know price. As for the DIY aspect, Id rather not fuck a bunch of premium denim, but its a great idea for those with the means and skill to do it.

NO WASHES!

N.

[artificialsky]

superfuture denim does not equal a bunch of parts you have to sew together yourself.

isn't making the jeans your job?

[obsessis]

i would say that everybody on here will have diff. opinions on the options to vote on and there will be a ton of arguments between people who think their opinion is right.

a lot of people will probably vote on it, say they are going to do it and then back out.

i think you'll have a hard time getting 200 people to sign on.

what cost are we looking at?

i don't want you to think i'm being a jerk, just giving you a different point of view.

[YoungPunch]

The fit would have to be a compromise, not as slim fit like thin fin, nor baggy. I think it would have to fit like a 1947, but with a fitted seat, not anti-fit. Maybe even a similar fit to apc new standards. I would prefer rather heavyweight denim also. And I don't own a sewing machine, so I would need to purchase fully sewn jeans. Hidden back pocket rivets are a must, selvage, dry denim.

I like the idea though. I am very interested in buying "superfuture" denim. Keep the discussion going!

[artificialsky]

Quote: we would need to get 200 orders.

[Noddy]

NS fit will be terrific!

[ilovespaz]

Digital_Denim

Your question is a tricky one.

Our Sling & Stones jeans are going to be retail priced at $260 dry & $290

washed. We were hoping to charge $300 for our Jean's w/ the kit and

destruct our margin to allow for it.

The thing is, without being able to absorb that cost - the cost for the kit

would be fairly high due to manufacturing minimums for fabric (japanese selvage) and buttons and rivets (especially if gold plated wins the vote), etc.

We really want to do this for Superfuture and you are probably right - a lot

of people may want the kit on its own (without our jeans) and many may want

to have it sewn for them. Honestly, we were planning on offering it both as

a kit, and with an additional charge offering to take care of the

construction.

Here is what we're thinking:

With a pair of Sling & Stones: $300

Without a pair of Sling & Stones: $145

(We'd still need to get 100 orders for the packaged deal)

Cut & Sew: $95

(Cut & Sew in low quantities is very expensive - but think about it, most

people pay $20 just to hem a pair of jeans)

If there is demand for washed pairs (100 pairs minimum) Ozone Wash: $35

Some things that could drop the price:

If we got more orders we could drop the price - but we think it's better to

stay exclusive.

If we used non-japanese (like the aarvind mills denim or even local denim)

or non-selvage (*gasp* - but a pair of selvage takes way more yardage as the

denim is half as wide) denim it would drop the price - but who wants to do

that?

This is definitely not an uber profitable venture for us and of course going

into this that was never the point for us. In fact, we are actually

planning to invest a lot of money and time into making this happen with

excellence.

Please everybody - There are a million ways we could go with this and we're open to feedback.

P.S - We're really trying our best and I know there will be complaints of

'too expensive' or 'I don't like the way you're doing it' etc - but please

we don't want to be made into bad guys because we really are just trying to

do this to make it happen for superfuture.

To give you some background on our company we were invested in by a lawyer

who quit her job to go build an orphanage in India. Our people include ones

who gave up high paying jobs in the business and engineering worlds to work

here and, as sappy as it sounds, try to make a difference by creating

intelligent fashion that donates profits back into the international

community. Not trying to give a sob story at all (we're happy with our life decisions) or asking you to buy a pair of jeans because

of this, but rather we just want to give you guys some insight into who we

are.

Greentea

Thanks for your interest and all your support in our threads

shoiebones

Most home sewing machines can in fact handle denim and riveting can be done

with a hammer. The DIY would make it so that you could definitely tackle

the problem and if you got stuck you could always go to a local tailor!

TaylorMADE

I hope the price seems decent - we're really trying.

Noddy

Hmm.skinny fit. hey, if there is enough interest maybe we can pull of two

fits. (No guarantees on that because we have to get all the patterns made,

graded, and printed). Also, if there is enough interest we can probably

offer a wash for an added fee and have people vote on a few options.

showbiz00ditc

You're right, the people of Superfuture will never have enough dry denim.

justiz2

Yeah - we can put them together for you.

chromesquared

There will definitely be a dry - the vote will see to that :-)

artificialsky

We'll handle construction for anybody who wants us to. But we figured that since this was a denimforum for denim addicts people might appreciate the opportunity to learn about what goes into constructing a pair

[obsessis]

i'm glad you can take it as constructive advice/criticism. i've got some more.

if you take deposits before doing any type of voting i don't think you'd have many people voting, honestly. i think people will put out their opinions but wouldn't put money down until they knew what they were getting. you'd also turn away potential buyers who didn't like the fact they had to commit before voicing their opinion.

i'm not sure how many people would want to finance this venture, basically you'd be collecting money and then buying everything with their funds. it's like drugs. i wouldn't give a drug dealer $50 so he could use my money to finance a much bigger purchase and then give me a cut not equal to the percentage of the price i paid. i would expect to get a larger cut, equal to the even percentage of the price i paid, since he had to use me and my money to get the product. if you don't have the money to buy everything up front you can't really charge a normal fee.

i definitely don't think you'd get 200 people. i don't know if you'd get 100 or 75 even. not everybody here has a sewing machine. The $95 is a fair price to pay for cut/sew, though, as the price would then be about the same as a normal pair of jeans. there would be absolutely no reason to not spend the extra $60 and get two pairs of jeans, though, so you might need to rethink the price of just material/patterns.

not everybody can buy a ton of jeans. some people here save up for months just to buy a pair of jeans. i'm not too sure they'd want to spend a lot of money for a company that isn't established.

i really respect what you are trying to do, honestly. doing something like this for SF would be cool. i do not know anything about your company, though. i think this would be a great way to build a buzz for it, a great marketing move. you have a built-in market for your product and could get people to buy it off of the 'superfuture' name alone. is that taking advantage of a forum built by people who put a lot of time and money into it and get nothing out of it? it may be viewed as that by some but i think you are doing it for the right reasons. you might not be able to charge as much as well-established companies, though, in the process. i think this would be a great way to build your company up but you'd kind of be taking advantage of the people here....not in a bad way. i hope you understand what i'm trying to say.

i have seen other forums do 'forum goods' but they are usually done by someone who runs the messageboard. is anybody who runs this messageboard in on this arrangement? have you asked the people if it is okay for you to do a 'superfuture jean'? to make something that is an 'official' forum type good you really need their backing. if you haven't you probably should do it. if you decided to start doing it without asking i wouldn't be surprised if they aren't quite happy.

if this goes right and your company 'blew up' your company would basically owe everything to superfuture and the 200 people who go in on this business venture. it basically would be a joint business venture by everyone involved if they finance the operation, yet at the end the people who benefit the most are "the company" as they aren't taking a risk to lose money up front and would end up with name/brand recognition and guaranteed profit with no risk.

i know it is a total downer but it is just a way people might look at it, i'm sure some people do but don't want to say anything.

with all of that said, $300 for a pair of jeans and the materials to make a pair is a good deal if everything is high quality and legit. it is something i might do but don't think 200 people would be able to. i don't think you could squeeze $30,000 out of SF.

[horriblyjollyjinx]

I like this idea, but I do not think that it is very realistic. I think that instead you should just focus on making a great pair of high quality jeans with a modern fit, there is a serious market for that, people complain here daily about saggy asses and such. You're basically competing with the 20+ Japanese brands that have a long history and make amazing jeans, so you need something to set you apart.

Maybe make 400 pairs and 80 kits and sell them separately?

I'd like to see that you set quality first, and gimmicks like natural indigo second, or maybe just completely skip that. Put the money into making the denim higher quality instead.

I'd like to see 15+ oz denim, rope-dyed and many, many dips. Try to give the denim a more interesting slubby look too and don't sanforize nor singe it.

våran panel tycker att man ska koka pastan i två år

Edited by horriblyjollyjinx on Jun 4, 2006 at 06:57 AM

[Lars]

"The kit" is not a good idea. I have a very hard time imagining 200 people from this forum making their own jeans, and paying $145+ for it.

A more realistic approach would be that someone tracked down a roll of selvedge denim and had it sewn up at some sweatshop.

[minya]

I don't really get the point of the kit. You think people will buy the kit and then construct the jeans themselves? I can't see that happening except for maybe a couple people on here.

Personally, I prefer my jeans to come already made....

[deadkidz]

i like this board and the info that i glean off of it, but as ppl have said i do not have the confidence in my ability to cut & sew my own pair of jeans and have them look good. and for 300 which is alot of money for me right now id rather buy something put completed and be reassured that it will stand the wear of time and abuse that im goign to put it through.

its hard to draw a nice line much less sew one so there you have it.

[Yet Fung]

Well, regardless of whether or not it'sa good idea, you've posed the question,and personally I would be interested in putting a pair together myself, so yes if there's a list, put me on it.

[Chicken]

I'm in the school of "not interested right now", myself. If I was going to start making my own jeans, I don't want to risk hundreds of dollars in it right away. Would rather start with something more simple and cheap -- like making my own equivalent of a Uniqlo Ring-Denim for about 30 bucks.

[Guest Berget__]

I dont really know if I got this right but is it like this? The kit(denim, rivets, buttons, pattern etc) for 145$ and the kit + a pair of slings and stones jeans (already constructed) for 300$?

Basically what Im saying if you'll charge 145$ for the kit Im definatly in!

I aint gotta get money man money get me

[TaylorMADE]

I for one would be very interested in the "kit." I have wanted to know what the whole process of creating a pair of denim intails and think it would be amazing to be able to make my own custom pair. Also, i tend to like to wear my jeans a bit looser than many on this board, so it makes more sense. If this doesnt go through, I would love to have some information on where I can buy the elements myself and create a few pairs of my own!!

Thanks again for taking the time to even think of doing this for the community. Man if i lived in seattle I would love to see what you do.

AIM: tdubb96

Email: [email protected]

[Oubre]

Quote:

I dont really know if I got this right but is it like this? The kit(denim, rivets, buttons, pattern etc) for 145$ and the kit + a pair of slings and stones jeans (already constructed) for 300$?

Basically what Im saying if you'll charge 145$ for the kit Im definatly in!

--- Original message by Berget__ on Jun 4, 2006 12:03 PM

Yah so u get all the materials to make 1 pair of Jeans and 1 Already made pair to compair to for 300?

and 145 is just for the materials to make a pair.?

Im In

[trinket]

I'm interested in the kit.

I would like the cut to be a simple pair of straight cut jeans. No need for veggie indigo. Can be sanforized. At least 14 oz.

_trinket

[Guest jeffvyain]

i think obsessis pretty much hit the nail on the head. no disrespect, but i think you're overestimating your market by quite a large margin.

[beezen]

I also agree with obsessis. I think putting out a superfuture denim should be initiated by the superfuture owners. Otherwise it just looks like ya exploiting a market that they worked hard to create. They should be in on it from the begining and get a cut!

Ya also need something special to beat all those japanese jeans.

[poly800rock]

this is the one you should have bumped