392 SEPTEMBER 2019 VOGUE.COM
RHAPSODIZING ABOUT BLUE
DESIGNERS THE WORLD OVER HAVE
WORKED WITH THE INDIGO STUFF, BUT
THERE’S SOMETHING PARTICULARLY
ADEPT IN THE WAY OUR HOMEGROWN
TALENTS (INCLUDING, CLOCKWISE FROM
LEFT, PROENZA SCHOULER, COACH 1941,
AND JONATHAN SIMKHAI) TACKLE IT.
You can’t talk about American
fashion without talking about
denim. Levi Strauss & Co.’s
very first pair of jeans arrived in
1873 (the very same year New
York’s Central Park was finally
completed), and the indigo-blue
cotton they were cut from is
still practical, versatile, and—most important—
democratic: No matter who or where you are, you
likely wear denim. It’s a fabric without borders,
not least of all borders of the imagination. And
as much as it works for our “real” lives, it can
also be daringly cutting edge: For every inventive
reworking of denim’s durable and dependable
beauty from Proenza Schouler, Coach, or
Jonathan Simkhai, there’s the (sustainable)
impulse to seek out vintage Levi’s and Wranglers
from decades past. Which brings us to denim’s
other winning quality: longevity. Jeans may fade,
but our love for them is everlasting.—e.f.
MATERIAL
GAINS
THE UNITED STATES OF FASHION
COACH
PROENZA
SCHOULER
JONATHAN
SIMKHAI
PROENZA SCHOULER: ZOE GHERTNER,
VOGUE,
2019. COACH: VICKI KING,
VOGUE,
2018. JONATHAN SIMKHAI: ANNIE LEIBOVITZ,
VOGUE,
2 0 1 7.
