Back before the '60s were swinging and mod, Paul and Rose Svarc started a workwear company. Their family-run clothing business has withstood the test of time and is thriving today, still based in Montreal and going strong. If the name Svarc feels familiar you're probably a denim dork and well-read in the indigo arts, because Brandon Svarc is the designer behind Naked and Famous. Coincidence? Obviously not.

After his grandfather Paul passed away, Brandon decided to honor his grandparents' work and revive their early semi-eponymous line, PaulRose Products. The new Paulrose designs are based on the company's workwear and incorporate the high quality fabrics of the Naked and Famous line. Naked and Famous is known for its range of raw, high quality denim and idiosyncratic style. They've produced both scratch-and-sniff pants and a jean using 22oz. denim, which must feel like second grade and body armor respectively. In comparison, the Paulrose product line is proudly limited. There are exactly two (2) cuts to choose from, a heritage style based on the 1947 Levis 501 (to be, uh, totally specific), and a narrower modern slim cut.

Both are made from 17oz. Japanese selvedge denim, woven at small studio mill in Okayama, Japan which specializes in artisanal denim fabrics. It is made using slub yarns, woven at the lowest possible tension, creating a hand woven look and texture. This gives the burlier-than-usual denim an enjoyable feel... and keeps it from wearing like riot gear. In short, it's slubby, unusually tough, high quality material. And unsanforized? But of course.

(For those on the mellower end of the selvedge-obsessive scale, "slubby" means that the super thick yarns used in the fabric give the pants a slightly textured feel, and "unsanforized" means raw as hippy goat milk: unwashed, deeply colored, and likely to tint your white persian cat if you're not careful.) The fabric will shrink 1 size when washed. If you're going to be a sane pants-wearer and wash them you'll want to size up from your normal/pre-shrunk size.

They don't do a dozen options, they don't do cheap labor. What Paulrose does offer is high quality, extra-thick (17oz.!), long-wearing jeans you can take to work or play. If that doesn't sound like the right idea, we feel sorry for your legs.

Our model is Marc, a Northwest native and friend of the shop. His CV includes: wilderness guide, trailblazer, wilderness firefighter, and salesman of fine meat products.