My Guide to the World’s Top Denim Destinations

Back in 2012, when I started working at Brund in Copenhagen, I noticed something interesting.

People weren’t just stopping by because they happened to be in the neighbourhood. Many customers made a point of visiting the shop. Some travelled from elsewhere in Denmark. Some came from abroad. If you were visiting Copenhagen and cared about raw denim, Brund was on the itinerary—and if anything, that’s even more true today.

I realised the same thing was happening all over the world.

Whether it’s Hinoya in Tokyo, Self Edge in San Francisco, or VMC in Zurich, some shops are destinations. They’re places denim enthusiasts seek out because of the brands they carry, the knowledge they share, and the communities they’ve built.

That’s what inspired this new series of guides to the best raw denim shops.

It’s a map of the denim destinations that have shaped this niche—from legendary shops-turned-institutions to independent retailers that have become cornerstones of their local communities. At launch, the guides cover more than 120 shops across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

Why Build a Guide Like This?

The main purpose of Denimhunters has always been to help you make better buying decisions when it comes to raw denim and well-made menswear.

Throughout the site, you’ll find guides, reviews, comparisons, buying advice, and recommendations to help you understand what you’re looking at and whether it’s right for you.

But once you’ve decided which jeans, jacket, or brand you want, another question quickly follows: Where do you actually buy it?

If you’ve spent time on the site, you’ve probably noticed links to retailers throughout articles and guides. When you click one of those links and make a purchase, Denimhunters may earn a commission. That’s one of the ways the site is funded today, and what I mean when I say that “Denimhunters is reader-supported”.

But we only work directly with a handful of the brands we feature. Most of them—from Fullcount and TCB to Samurai, Warehouse, and many others—are represented through specialist retailers instead.

How These Guides Are Different

It was obvious from the beginning that these guides wouldn’t be very useful if they only included shops we work with. That’s why they include every retailer I feel deserves a place on the list.

Many of the shops featured are places I’ve visited myself. Others I’ve known about for years through the denim community. Some are run by people I’ve met at trade shows, in stores, at events, or through years of working in this industry.

Just because a shop isn’t currently a commercial partner of Denimhunters doesn’t mean it isn’t worth knowing about. This community is small, and many of these businesses have spent decades helping people discover great products, learn about craftsmanship, and connect with others who share the same interests.

At launch, that means the guides cover more than 120 shops from around the world, but only a fraction of them are affiliate partners of Denimhunters. However, only the shops we work with have direct links, and they’re also highlighted throughout the guides.

Start Exploring

Whether you’re looking for your first pair of raw denim, planning a trip, searching for a hard-to-find Japanese brand, or simply curious about the best raw denim shops in the world of denim, these guides are here to help.

The series includes:

• The main guide to where to buy raw denim (overview)
• North America’s top denim shops
• Europe’s top denim shops
• Asia-Pacific’s top denim shops
• How to buy raw denim online to avoid expensive mistakes

I’ve spent more than a decade helping people find better jeans. These guides are my attempt to make it easier to discover the shops, people, and destinations that make this corner of the menswear world worth exploring.

Still Charting the Territory

This guide series is launching after a lot of research, but I can pretty much guarantee I’ve missed some shops.

Some I don’t know yet. Some my research didn’t catch. Some I may simply have forgotten.

So if one of your favourite shops isn’t on the list, tell me—send me a message here. I’d like these guides to keep improving, and I’ll happily add more shops that deserve to be there.

The post The Denim Shop Directory I’ve Wanted to Build for Years appeared first on Denimhunters.

DENIM and PATCHES sourced this post originally published on this site

Plus Tellason’s New Sneakers, a Suvin Gold Tee, and Why Fullcount Wins at Pre-Washed

Summer is officially here, and I’ve already started digging through my summer closet and topping up. I picked up a couple of nice secondhand short-sleeve shirts—seersucker, linen, that kind of thing—and a pair of Tellason fatigue shorts from Brund.

This issue leans that way too: lighter things, T-shirts, sneakers, and a summer sale or two. The exception is the lead story, where I finally sat down to review Gustin.

After that, there’s a sponsored piece on Tellason’s new sneakers, a few product and sale updates, and some thoughts on pre-washed denim prompted by a special new Fullcount release.

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I Finally Put Gustin to the Test

I’ve been talking with the people behind Gustin since they launched, and we’ve discussed doing something together more than once over the years. It never quite happened—until they sent me two pairs to review.

I roped in Frederik, my brother-in-law and house model, to do the wearing. He gets the jeans, I don’t pay for models, and you get to compare him across my other reviews.

What I was watching for was consistency—the thing I think about most after launching my own jeans last year, because if you’re not consistent with sizing, details, and finish every time, you break the trust you’ve built. On that front, Gustin is as solid as any brand I’ve handled.

The review gets into the rest: the two core fabrics, where Gustin spends and where it simplifies, a couple of finishing choices I’d have made differently, and the sizing, which is the one thing I’d really pay attention to before ordering.

And if you want to go deeper on the fits, fabrics, and how the campaigns work, we’ve also got a full Gustin buying guide.

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The Sneakers I Reach For Instead of My Boots

I used to own a lot of boots. A few years back I sold off most of them, and now there are really only two pairs I still wear—and one of those, a roughout pair of Wescos I love, almost never gets worn because I won’t lace them up for a 20-minute school run.

So I default to sneakers. For a long time that felt like a guilty secret—when I started out I had it in my head that proper denimheads wore boots, so I did too. These days I’ve made my peace with it.

The hard part is finding sneakers that look right with heavier denim, not just any jeans. So when Tellason teamed up with Italian maker Valsport, it caught my attention: a low, old-school tennis shoe, made in Italy, with denim details kept so quiet you have to look twice to spot them.

A sneaker collab might look like a stretch for a brand known for jeans and workwear. But there’s a good reason it isn’t, and it goes back a long way for Pete and Tony. I get into that in the article, along with the design choices and why the collaboration makes more sense than it first appears.

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Things Worth Your Attention

A few other things caught my eye this week—a couple of restocks, a sale worth knowing about, and a new collaboration that got me thinking.

UES Ramayana T-Shirts Land at Redcast Heritage

Yes, another Redcast update, and another T-shirt—but it’s the season, and the good ones keep dropping.

This time it’s UES’s Ramayana tees, made from Suvin Gold, one of the rarest and finest cottons in the world—it sits closer to cashmere than ordinary cotton in feel.

What makes them interesting is the construction. Rather than spinning that fine cotton into a delicate yarn, UES spins it thick, so you get the smoothness of premium cotton with the body of a proper heavyweight tee. They’re restocked in white, black, navy and grey, now up to XXXL.

If you’ve read my guide to the best loopwheeled T-shirts, this isn’t one of those—it’s a different route to a great tee, leaning on the cotton and the yarn rather than the knitting method. One heads-up: they run very small, so check the size chart before ordering.

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Cultizm’s Summer Sale Is On

A sale at Cultizm isn’t exactly breaking news. But there have been two fresh announcements since last week’s Weekly, so it’s worth flagging.

The first is the summer sale itself, with up to 50% off across a genuinely deep selection—no code needed, just head to the sale page.

There’s also a separate summer deal running alongside it: 20% off full-price items with the code SUMMER at checkout.

Between the two, there’s a lot of good stuff to dig through.

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If You’d Rather Skip the Break-In … Get Fullcounts

When it comes to jeans, almost everything I recommend, and everything I wear myself, is either raw or one-washed.

But pre-washed denim is getting more popular in this scene, and I’ve got nothing against it. If a broken-in, ready-to-wear pair is what you actually want, there’s no reason not to go for it.

What got me thinking about this is a new collaboration: Amsterdam’s Tenue de Nîmes has done its first-ever jean with Fullcount, a light “Palm Springs” hand-wash limited to 50 handmade pairs.

They also ran a nice interview with Kotaro from Fullcount around it, which is worth a read. It’s a lovely project, even if I’d never reach for a wash that light myself.

More to the point, if pre-washed is your thing, Fullcount is about the best you can get—Osaka-made on shuttle looms with no shortcuts.

Their own washes are really something else; the Dartford and the Santa Monica in particular, which you can see above across the slim, straight and wide fits.

The Tenue exclusive will be hard to get, but you can find Fullcount at Redcast Heritage (ES), Blue in Green (US), Cultizm (DE), and Clutch Café (UK).

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From the Archive: Tellason’s Wide-Leg Fredy

Since Tellason’s already in this issue, it’s a good excuse to point back to a review I’m fond of: the Fredy, the brand’s wider-leg jean.

I reviewed it last year. It was “wide on time” then, and it still is.

Wider cuts have only kept growing since, and the Fredy is Tellason’s answer to that without chasing anything—a fuller leg done in a way that feels timeless rather than trend-driven.

My review goes into the fit, the proportions, and why this kind of cut works better than people expect once you actually wear it.

The post American-Made Selvedge Jeans for $99? I Was Sceptical Too appeared first on Denimhunters.

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LOEWE’s Fall/Winter 2026 campaign marked the continued evolution of the house under creative directors Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez.

Rather than a traditional studio campaign, the imagery was photographed by Talia Chetrit on the volcanic island of Tenerife, creating a dramatic contrast between raw landscapes and LOEWE’s highly crafted luxury pieces.

The imagery highlights the visual contrast between the island’s jagged lava rock formations and the collection’s fluid, sculptural craftsmanship. The campaign features a mix of fresh and familiar faces, including ambassadors and actors like Isla Johnston, Levon Hawke, Seydou Sarr, and Eva Victor.

The visual language shifted away from the highly conceptual surrealism associated with LOEWE’s previous era and toward something more tactile and sensual.

You can shop for the current Spring/Summer 2026 LOEWE collection at NET-A-PORTER, Harrods, and at Saks Fifth Avenue.

The post LOEWE – Fall/Winter 2026 Ad Campaign first appeared on Denimology.

DENIM and PATCHES sourced this post originally published on this site

This is a sponsored blog post, one of our paid services. We maintain full editorial independence. Read more here.

Italian-Made Sneakers for (and with) Raw Denim

I’ve owned plenty of boots over the years, and I still appreciate a good pair. But it’s sneakers I wear most. And that used to feel like a guilty pleasure.

Back in the days when I was launching this site and still figuring out my take on denim style, I had this idea that proper denimheads had to wear boots. So I did too. These days, sneakers are my go-to choice of footwear, pretty much year-round.

It’s not a statement about style, or a reaction to anything. It’s just everyday life. I work from home, I have kids, and I’m in and out the door constantly. More often than not, slipping into a pair of Vans or New Balances is just so much easier than lacing up my Red Wings or Wescos.

The tricky part is finding sneakers that pair naturally with raw denim and the kind of clothing we wear around it. Plenty of sneakers work with jeans. Fewer feel right with heavier denim, work shirts and the rest of a wardrobe that tends to be a little more substantial.

These sneakers do it all.

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You Have to Look Twice for the Denim

The Tellason x Valsport sneaker is a low-profile, old-school European sports shoe, closer in spirit to a classic tennis trainer than a rugged attempt at turning boots into sneakers.

And importantly, it does not immediately announce itself as a raw denim collaboration. The denim details are there, but they are kept to the stripe, the heel tab and the tongue lining.

From a distance, you are looking at a simple, easy-to-wear sneaker with a warm-toned sole and a shape that will sit easily under a pair of jeans. Look closer and the Tellason connection becomes clearer.

That was very much intentional. When I asked the guys at Tellason whether the subtle denim use was there from the beginning, Tony Patella’s answer was simple:

“100%. A lot of consideration went into how we could make the shoe as ‘Tellason’ as possible. Subtlety versus screaming has always been our style.”

That is probably the smartest decision in this collaboration. A full denim sneaker could easily become the sort of thing you like as an idea more than you actually wear. This one still feels like a sneaker first. The denim is a detail, not the whole reason for the shoe to exist.

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Tellason and Sneakers Go Back a Long Way

At first glance, a sneaker collaboration might seem like a slight departure for a brand best known for jeans, chore coats and work shirts. But for Pete and Tony, sneakers are hardly a new interest.

Pete’s first memorable pair arrived in 1974, when his father bought him a pair of Nike Wimbledons. A navy Cortez followed, then Vans in 1975.

At the local Vans shop, he would choose the colour of each canvas panel on a paper outline of the shoe, then get a phone call two weeks later when the finished pair was ready to collect.

Tony grew up in a sporting goods store. When he was 12, his father bought the local shop in his hometown, becoming Nike’s 83rd account in the world.

That gave him access to the Waffle Trainer, Cortez, Bruin and the other models that would later become classics. His first job after college was as a sales representative for Converse.

That background matters. Tellason making a sneaker is not a denim brand wandering into a category because it seems commercially convenient. It’s a product category that Tony and Pete have lived with since they were kids in California.

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Made in Italy by Valsport

The connection with Valsport happened through Uwe from Amtraq, Tellason’s European distributor. Tony kept seeing Uwe wearing Valsports and eventually asked for an introduction.

There’s an Italian connection on Tony’s side too. His Italian roots are clearly something he is proud of; every now and then, he’ll reply to an email with a one-sentence phrase in Italian.

Valsport is based in the Veneto region of Italy, close to the companies that already make some of Tellason’s products. For Tony, the appeal was the people, the history, and the fact that Valsport have been making sneakers in Italy since 1920.

The aesthetic fit too. Tony describes Valsport’s shoes as “old school” and “analogue”: classic tennis and running-inspired designs, without the technical appearance of modern performance trainers. They are designed for everyday wear, which is really the point here.

The Tellason x Valsport collab works because it does not try too hard to prove its denim credentials. It’s understated, wearable, made in Italy, and the Tellason details reveal themselves quietly. Which feels very Tellason indeed.

The post These Sneakers Make More Sense Than You Might Think appeared first on Denimhunters.

DENIM and PATCHES sourced this post originally published on this site