John Löfgren & Co - Beach Jacket

If you know a little about vintage clothing and particular vintage American clothing, you may know that the Brown's Beach Jacket is one of the most collectible items out there and it keeps fetching solid prices on eBay. If you know a little about buying from some of the most shops in the world, you may know that most of them are located in Japan and you may know, that it's often a hassle communicating with them and you will often have to resort to using an expensive proxy. However there is one exception and that exception is Speedway Shop (or their Rakuten shop), which is run by a very friendly American named John Lofgren (he is actually of Swedish descent).

John Lofgren is not only running a very good shop with a lot of other good brands, but he is also producing some very fine goods in his own name. Their all made in Japan of excellent materials and their all meticulously made with nice historical details.

One of the most recent pieces that has been added to the collection is John's interpretation of the iconic Beach Jacket. It's not a historical reproduction by any means, but it's a plausible remake with a nice updated fit. The fit is also something that makes Lofgren stand out, as they're much more suited for the Western consumer, as many of the Japanese makers tend to make their garbs very small and short.

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One Month of Denim - Day 8

Our neighbouring country, Sweden, seem to be more into denim, than we are in Denmark. That is unfortunately a fact. They have Indigofera, Nudie, Acne Jeans, Pace and Denim Demon for instance. Personally I don't find any of them too interesting, but they are all putting out denim related goods and jeans. What I do however find very interesting is the Blue Highway project by the two Luhanko brothers, Hampus and Douglas.

I followed their blog from the very beginning and tried to recommend interesting jeans on eBay to them because that was their main purpose to begin with. They collected vintage denim and they showed their finds on the blog. This created a wonderful gallery of vintage denim artifacts from the three big ones and from smaller, lesser-known brands.

A couple of years later they started making jeans, and things got even more exciting. Later on we have followed them on trips to America (with Michael Harris), when their jeans went on a world tour, how their jeans evolved both in quality and how they faded and how their range of products has been getting bigger with more products and collaborations. The highlight so far has been the joint venture with a shop called Sivletto, when they opened a collaborative store called Unionville in Stockholm. This store carries some of the most interesting work wear and denim related goods from Lofgren, Mister Freedom and Ironheart - to mention a few - and it also has a workspace on the shop floor. It all looks very interesting and you get the feeling that they really care about what they do.

In my opinion they could go from strength to strength. If they get the right machinery and a steady source of great denim, they could be competing with some of the very best Japanese makers. 

You can see examples on their denim - on Denim Archive here, but I urge you to follow them on their blog, on Unionville and on Facebook.

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