A Focus on Evan Kinori and Fashion Revolution

The Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh was home to five factories, part of the country’s famed garment industry; it was the second largest factory in the world. Zara, H&M, Gap, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and numerous other brands were being made by 3.6 million people in Bangladesh, to the tune of $21 billion in exports in 2012, nearly 12% of the GCP.  Roughly 90% of those exports landed in the United States, because producing in Bangladesh was so cheap: minimum wage there was $37 a month, four times less than that of China. No wonder everyone wanted their clothes made there.  Business was booming, and everything was humming along smoothly.
And then the roof caved in. Literally.
On April 24, 2013, the building collapsed, killing 1,100 people and injuring another 2,438. Most of these were garment workers, and most of those were young women.
All accidents are tragic, but this one is especially so because it could have been avoided; it almost was.
The morning before the collapse, an engineer deemed the building unsafe and recommended its evacuation. A government official hurried to the site, had a meeting with the engineer, and changed the verdict, declaring the building safe. The bank in the building sent its workers home, but garment worker management told them to come back to work the next day or risk losing their jobs. They did, and some of them never returned home to their families.  The engineer tried to escape the country but was caught and arrested at the border.
 
Shortly after this, Fashion Revolution began. For one week in April, they urge consumers who buy clothes – basically everybody – to participate in their #whomademyclothes campaign, building awareness of the many hands that produce the garments we wear. At the same time, brands, producers, and stores are encouraged to be transparent and honor those workers. Part of the point is to encourage ethical production through changing consumer practices. 
 
San Francisco has a long history in the garment industry (think Levi’s), and there are events April 22-29 throughout the city. In an effort to promote American-designed and American-made clothes, and in the spirit of a movement that demands transparency in this oversaturated and poorly regulated industry, I wanted to chat with local designer Evan Kinori, so I made an appointment to stop by his studio in Hayes Valley.

I first met Evan at a maker event in SOMA about six years ago. Nestled in between a leather specialist and candle maker, Evan had his wares that I had seen on his Tumblr, back when Tumblr was a thing. One of them was a reversible jacket that was one of the coolest things I’d seen, and it continues to be one of my favorite pieces of outerwear. A testament to Evan’s sense of style is the fact that it appeals to practically everyone; through the years, I’ve been asked about it on the street and the job site. 
Evan recalls: “This was the third jacket I had come up with while in school. I was studying pattern making and was really eager to bring my ideas to life but the curriculum only taught womenswear. Even so, I was very anxious to make the garments I was envisioning. The thing that I really began to fixate on was how when most elements are removed, a garment can be much more transcendent and speak to more people. 
“I had found this amazing British brand, SEH Kelly, that had made a reversible shirt and it had really sparked my brain. I loved the idea of giving people options. From there, I just came up with the shapes I like and the way I wanted it to look and feel: timeless, smooth, but wearable on a daily basis. To me, the design retains the simple essentials of a men’s jacket but doesn’t appear too rigid or utilitarian, nor too dressy or blazer-esque.
“The denim is nice weight, 12 oz Japanese selvedge that I thought was the right shade of indigo to be paired with the greenish grey cavalry twill wool that I had got a bolt of at an estate sale. I love the idea of wool and denim, one side being the more rugged and tolerant side for messing about, and the other being a little more dressy for when the time calls for it. they are complimentary weights, not overly rigid, but enough to make the jacket feel substantial.”

Of the many things that stand out about this garment is the fabrication – after years of abuse, the jacket shows no signs of ever falling apart. Evan explains: “The entire jacket was sewn on a single needle Juki DDL 555 lockstitch industrial machine, with the buttonholes being sewn with a Reece keyhole machine. Lockstitch construction is just unbreakable. When you pair it with tight stitch counts, that garment will surely last long enough for your grandchildren to fight over it.”  When the buttons started to crack or the button stitching began to unravel, Evan added buttonholes to the other side and kick press buttons, which will never break or come loose, on both sides, for free.

The belief that clothes are meant to last and can be repaired, instead of tossed and replaced, is one that the Fashion Revolution is trying to instill in the mind of modern customers. The fact that Evan himself took care of my jacket, free of charge, is an almost radical concept if we think of the current state of the fashion industry, where we hardly ever get to interact with the designers or the makers of the pieces we wear. 
 
Currently, Evan’s stock can be found in a handful of shops in New York, LA, Antwerp, Belgium, Japan, and South Korea. In San Francisco, you can find his stuff at Reliquary or make an appointment to visit his studio. 
It’s nice to see Evan’s growth from that booth six years ago, but he’s in no rush.
“I’m pretty particular about where my stuff goes,” he says. “I have to fit in, not just with the other brands, but the shop itself. When I go in, I listen to the music, talk to the owners, and see if we think along the same lines. It’s not just about selling the product.”

When asked about his clothing style, Evan shrugs and says, “I like to make garments people don’t have to worry about styling. I don’t want people to feel like they have to buy everything, even though all the pieces go together.”
His Instagram feed has a certain feel to it – I’d call it relaxed menswear –  with models showcasing his garments head-to-toe. Similar to Kapital and Engineered Garments, but without the randomness.
Quality is high, with taped seams and leather backed kick press buttons. Details are thoughtfully executed, such as lower chest pockets to facilitate use and flaps with hidden button closures. Personally, I’ve found his garments easy to pair with what I currently have in my closet. Silhouettes are easy and familiar, with focus on practicality and texture.
I ended up purchasing another three-pocket jacket in an amazing cotton/linen/wool/hemp yarn dyed blanket cloth tweed. While mostly black, it has white and grey vertical broken stripes that pairs perfectly with a white button-down, black jeans, and white sneakers for when I don’t feel like thinking about color.
He’s got something in the pipeline that I’m really excited about, including the three-pocket jacket in a casentino cloth (!) and a longer coat in a large gray herringbone.

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Time was that Evan himself made every garment himself, like my reversible jacket from six years ago. Nowadays Evan outsources the sewing either to LA or San Francisco, depending on the garment, so he can focus on designing.
For the guy into classic menswear, you can’t do much better with Evan’s garments; they are all California designed and made, which means you can do your part in supporting local talent and industry.

Evan Kinori’s clothing can be purchased online or at these stockists.

What to Wear With a Shearling Jacket

what to wear with a shearling jacket styleforum

1. Aero Coastal Command shearling jacket

2. Rocky Mountain Featherbed liner jacket from Mr. Porter

3. Folk waffle-knit crew sweater from End

4. 4 Pocket pant from Evan Kinori

5. Goodyear-welted Julius boots in vintage leather from Peter Nappi


In my mind, there are very few things warmer than shearling. Yes, you could probably argue that one of those insulated suits made for climbing Everest is warmer than a shearling jacket, but you’re about as likely to own one of those as you are to wear it on any given day, even if you do own one. And, like most of your wardrobe, the continued popularity of the shearling bomber jacket is due to its presence in military uniform. Various military forces have adopted shearling at different points in history, but shearling is now perhaps most recognizable in bomber jacket form.

The most common models you’ll see are based on the US B3 and B6 jacket. These jackets were a very effective – but expensive – way for high-flying bomber pilots to stay warm, and were often accompanied by shearling overpants, gloves, and caps (the B6 being the lighter-weight, less bulky derivative for fighter pilots in smaller cockpits). Not only did they offer great insulation at freezing temperatures, but they would, in theory, keep the pilots alive were they shot down over open water. As rare as it is now to find someone wearing a full shearling suit, the jackets are still available in both vintage, repro, and updated form.

The one pictured here is not a USAAF jacket, but an R.A.F “Coastal Command” jacket, manufactured to original specifications by Aero Leathers. As you can see, the hood has been painted yellow – again, this was meant to serve as an indicator when searching for (hopefully) floating pilots. In addition, I think that the details visible on this later model – zipped cuffs, a belted waist – make it a touch more modern and, when worn outside the context of a war, rakish – than some of the American models.

Despite plenty of hi-tech advances in staying warm, sheepskin is still plenty effective (and popular), and you’re not limited to recognizably military-inspired models. They are, however, maybe the best for layering. Because when the temperature dips past freezing and it’s really, really cold out, you’re not going to wear just a shirt under your shearling jacket.

I’ve actually taken to wearing an Arcteryx Atom LT hoodie under a shearling (or coat) when it’s freezing which, admittedly, is not hugely fashionable. A better option is a quilted liner jacket like this one from Rocky Mountain Featherbed, especially since since it’s made of super-light and super-warm goose down. The combination of sheepskin and goose down is very, very warm, and if you add a sweater underneath you’ll be set even for nighttime. Uniqlo has a cheaper option, but you miss out on the feeling of wearing a cloud.

what to wear with a shearling jacket styleforum

My usual take on a two-piece Coastal Command outfit: shearling jacket from Cloak, insulated hoodie from Arcteryx, Evan Kinori 4 pocket twill pants, and Nonnative boots.

One thing to keep in mind when wearing a shearling jacket is that ultra-slim jeans don’t often look great due to the volume of the jacket (and the bulk of the layers beneath it), and trousers don’t really fit with such a utilitarian garment either. Most of the time I like looser denim of the ‘slim straight’ variety, which tend to be more in style now anyway, but when it’s freezing it’s nice to have a little extra room for insulation or even for a base layer (REI or even Costco have plenty – I like a wool blend). For example, this pair of four-pocket pants from Evan Kinori are even based on a USN overpant, which work particularly well if you’re after a fuller, more repro-inspired silhouette. I bought a pair last summer in indigo twill

Finally, my footwear barely changes no matter what the weather’s doing, so a good pair of leather boots is always nice to have on hand. These, from Peter Nappi fit the bill. We had the chance to see some of their wares in person at Pitti, and I think they’re very nice. I also like the way slightly more relaxed pants look with slim boots like this, especially since you can let the fabric break against the boot or roll them up with a thick cuff. It makes for an interesting look, I think. Of course, something like SF favorite Viberg would do great, as would a heavier engineer or moto boot.

Regardless, if you’ve spent any time on the forum you may have noted that I love to wear shearling jackets over a simple tee shirt. That said, it’s worth remembering that shearling (and, of course, wool) is one natural fiber that really can stand up to the worst that mother nature has to offer. This trinity  – shearling, wool, and down – works best when these individual powers are combined, like the Captain Planet of staying really, really warm. If you live anywhere with seasons, I’d wager you’ll get a lot of use out of all of the above.

Oh, and if you’re after a US Military jacket, Aero makes those too. I happen to think that a painted shearling hood would be a great thing to have on hand, though.

Styleforum Visits Evan Kinori

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“I don’t like calling it workwear,” says Evan Kinori. We’re standing in his beautiful studio loft in San Francisco, and I’m trying to do the horrible media thing where we pigeonhole something special using as few words as possible.

“It just has so many strong…connotations,” he finishes. “Let’s call it…well-made clothing for everyday life.”

This intentional vagueness is a better descriptor than my SEO-verified marketing lingo. Evan Kinori’s line of beautifully clean and comfortable garments is vague, in a pleasant way – even anonymous. Built for everyone, to wear everywhere.

The garments are familiar on first look: a chore jacket. A four-pocket pant. An overshirt. But it’s the details – or their absence – that make the clothes special. Consider the four pocket pants that I wear while writing this. No one but me will ever see the corduroy waistband facing or the veg-tan leather-backed buttons on the fly. Few will appreciate the beautifully finished seam that shows when I roll the pant cuff, or the subtle darting of the waist, or how good your hand feels in the pocket. It doesn’t matter: I appreciate these gestures, and that’s what matters.

Consider also Evan’s reversible denim jacket, a design he’s played with a handful of times since launching his brand. Denim on one side, and wool (or twill, or whatever strikes his fancy) on the other, the jacket is fully reversible – including double-faced buttons to preserve the left-sided buttoning stance, should the wearer want to swap them. Said wooden buttons are hand-dyed in indigo on the roof of the building.

We could certainly draw parallels to other brands, such as Margaret Howell’s chic utilitarianism or even Adam Kimmel’s short-lived workwear experiments, but that would be short-sighted. The back wall of Evan’s studio displays a collection of beautiful vintage garments, ranging from patchwork noragi to Swedish military anoraks to vintage baseball shirts, and that intelligent cosmopolitanism is much more illuminating of the product than sideways references to other brands. Evan tells me that it helped that he “Knew what he wanted to make” before going to patterning school to learn how to make it. He has taken available inspiration, stripped it down, and re-focused the results – and the results are polished.

Evan’s studio, courtesy evankinori.com

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Details: the 3-pocket jacket and 4-pocket pant in rinsed denim.

The clothes themselves are something of a blank slate, made to showcase the process and the fabric. They are beautiful as individual objects, and Evan takes great pride in the clean construction. Each piece is billed as looking “just as nice on the inside as it does on the outside,” and it rings true for everything I saw. Beyond that, Evan encourages various styling options. He himself prefers to wear an oversized pant with a tighter top, but his website shows how items fit across a range of sizes. The pair of pants I purchased are effectively one size up, but many people buy two full sizes up for extra roominess.

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Various offerings on display at the studio.

Evan calls the seasons his “editions.” Each piece he makes is part of a numbered run, and once they’re gone there’s no guarantee they’re coming back. He’ll keep the pattern – say, the four-pocket relaxed-leg overpant, based on a US Navy model – but change the fabric as inspiration strikes him. This season it’s a black Japanese twill, and he’s done rinsed denims, double-indigo twills (the pair I own), and un-dyed twill.

After laying out his ideas and his fabric on the massive drafting table at the back of the studio, he sews the samples and some of the retail pieces himself on an unassuming Juki sewing machine. The rest are produced by a small factory in LA, but Evan double-checks each piece before sending them out to the handful of retailers he works with: one in San Francisco, two in LA, and three in Japan.

He’s focusing on growing the brand slowly, hand-picking his partners the same way he hand picks the fabrics. Because of it, the brand is intensely personal and intensely compelling. This is one young maker I recommend keeping an eye on – despite the familiar shapes, the clothes are forward-looking, and it’s my guess that we’ll be seeing more of Evan in the near future.

Evan’s most recent releases are up now on his website, including a lookbook featuring the new products. Here are a few shots, but you can see the full thing, as well as several beautifully-shot videos, at EvanKinori.com.

You can watch a great video on the reversible jacket here, courtesy of Jack Knife and Evan Kinori:

Evan Kinori • “The Reversible Jacket” from Jarod Taber on Vimeo.

 


STOCKISTS

Currently, Evan Kinori is stocked at the following retailers:

 Reliquary / 544 Hayes St, San Francisco, CA 94102

– RTH / 529 & 537 N La Cienega Blvd West Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA 90048

– County Ltd.  /  1837 Hyperion Ave Los Angeles, CA 90027

Loftman / Loftman B.D. (Kyoto) & Loftman COOP UMEDA (Osaka)

Lantiki / Kobe & Tokyo Locations

–  CPCM /  Tokyo