The second issue of Inventory magazine is available to purchase now and includes more features and stories from around the world. After traveling to Japan, Europe and through North America, the Inventory guys had the chance to meet and spend time with some of their favourite brands and people. Among other things, the latest offering features Margaret Howell, Beams, New Balance, Unis, White Mountaineering, Wm. J. Mills & Co. and The Real McCoy’s.

Inventory was created as an extension of the author’s cultures and lifestyles. The magazine looks at more than just the appearance of products and clothing, admiring how each garment is made, by whom, and why.

You can grab a copy of the magazine at www.inventorymagazine.com and UK stockists include END, Superdenim and Present London. Volume 1 Issue 2 is limited to 8000 copies.

We just got word that Swedish favourites Nudie are releasing a new SS10 Collection named Injection, taking inspiration from the colour white. The Injection Collection includes some stunning white coated pieces that bring to mind flaking paint on garden furniture along with pale, indigo shades heavily bleached by the sun.

Nudie have also used different shades of grey and indigo to bring an overall balance to the colour card. The denim side of the collection offers new developments made exclusively for the brand. For example, reversed denim with most of the indigo on the inside. These exclusive styles give interesting inverted effects when broken in. As always with Nudie, many of the pieces are made organic cotton. Look out for Injection pieces in Nudie retailers and online soon.

FUSShop recently put together their very own lookbook for the Edwin Spring/Summer 2010 Collection which has resulted in some beautiful shots of key season products.

The UK store is planning on putting together more lookbooks for the cutting edge brands they currently stock including Obey, Penfield, Vans and Garbstore. FUSShop is a great little online store who along with clothing, also sell some top notch toys, prints and magazines. If you haven’t checked them out before, head on over to www.fusshop.co.uk.

Money is another brand which has been constantly strong for the last few seasons and their Spring Denim Collection is no different. Although no to everyone’s taste, Money continue to deliver knockout cuts and killer washes with rare currency detailing and raw denim to create the complete urban look.

This Spring season sees raw dark washes and blacks take centre stage with the staple currency detailing in the rear pockets. The brand are also now offering slimmer options for the acoustic generation, those with tastes influenced by music and the world around them, from social networking to http://www.casino.com/, and of course baggier cuts are available too.

This cauldron of trends re-born and re-invented have formed a look that only Money clothing can call their own. We’re sure that this eye-catching brand will continue raising eyebrows way into 2010 and beyond. For more information on Money Clothing, head on over to www.moneyclothing.com.

We don’t often do interviews at Denim Geek but when we do, we like to push the boat out a little.  Continuing the trend, we managed to grab some time this week with Rey Gautier, the Creative Director at Edwin Europe. Rey was appointed in January 2009 and has helped push the brand forward in the last year and a half. An all round friendly guy and denim expert, he did his best to answer all of the questions we threw at him about denim care, the current collection and the future….

The Edwin Spring/Summer 2010 collection and lookbook seem to be focused around a maritime theme. Where was this inspiration drawn from?

The collection is always based on lifestyles revolving around five pocket denims. High quality fabrics, high quality construction and human workmanship. We are not numbers. However, the Spring season’s clothing collection did indeed have an element of maritime running throughout. I think this was mainly down to having read ‘The Old man and the Sea’ by Ernest Hemingway during the time we were working on the collection. It is an incredibly moving tale, a very powerful story and something we felt had a connection with what we were working on at the time. In many ways, books such as these, first released in 1952 simply do not date, they still bare immense relevance today. Dateless. We make and remake five pocket denim jeans and this also has a longevity.

The look book itself was shot in Brittany, France using friends and our cameras. This coast line is called ‘La Cote Sauvages’, and is one of the most beautiful and natural coastlines in France. The light is incredible, even when raining. It rained quite a lot during the few days shooting and we had to just go with what nature was throwing down and get on with it. This was probably a blessing as it meant we had little time to think it through, it just had to happen as it happened…

For our readers who can’t get to fairs and events, can you give us a little information about what to expect for F/W 2010?

With winter its always easier to play with heavier fabrics, linings and details which may be more difficult in summer. The collection remains rough around the edges, a ‘hobo’ collection of sorts. Lots of layering pieces, blanket lined, cord collared denim jackets, leather flight jackets, heavy wool checks, boiled wool and recycled yarns on heavy cable knitwear pieces. It is loosely inspired on post-war Vietnam, where the U.S refused to deal with the dysfunctional aspect of retuning veterans and these people were left alone. Heroes now representing an ashamed government.

It concentrates on the escapism aspects and the accidental freedom of the road, somewhere where ‘brotherhood’ could be found during the ‘hobo’ style wanderings in search of work. It’s not escapism in the running away sense, but more embarking on a journey of self discovery. The denim collection reflected this spirit with washes in Japanese listed fabric such as the ‘biker repair’ ‘hobo’ and ‘oiler’ washes. Heavy duty, quality denim. Not fashion but more ‘style’ based on something real. This is important to us at EDWIN. Its not so much the ‘heritage’ or ‘vintage’ aesthetic feel which has invariably become a trend, but more the fact that its genuine product, the real article. The company could claim it’s stakes in heritage having started in Japan 1947, but that’s only really relevant in the sense that we have been making five pocket jeans since then, so one would hope that we have learned something along the way.

If one of our Denim Geek readers was after a new pair of jeans, why should they choose Edwin over cheaper alternatives?

The quality of the yarn used to spin the denim we develop with the fabric suppliers.

The quality of the dying process the denim fabric sees before we cut to construct.

The quality of the trims we use on our denim jeans.

The quality of the construction of our jeans that are made by people who have been making jeans a long, long time. Real people, not machines.

The quality of the washes we develop take years to perfect by hand.

The Tinker Tailor Ltd project was launched in last couple of weeks in your quest to find the perfect wash. Are you looking forward to seeing how the project progresses over the next year and can you tell our readers a little more about it?

This is an interesting project designed to create a sort of ‘modern vintage’. We are currently developing a new line within EDWIN Europe, based on premium denim fabrics and washed using real reference points from modern living. In other words, we are creating a ‘modern vintage’ program. It is not called this, but it’s the best way to describe it at the moment. Effectively, we select a denim contributed by a willing participant and base a wash on their real life usage. The wash is then named using the initials from the contributor and placed within the new line. The reference piece will be traceable along with its owner on the Tinker Tailor site with a feature alongside.

The TTLD project is the start, where we selected random individuals somehow connected to EDWIN. They simply document their lives in EDWIN jeans and at the end of the year, we will showcase their wear patterns and works in exhibitions held in Paris, London, Berlin, Stockholm and Milan.At this point, we will open up the availability for anyone willing to contribute by signing up to the project online and posting photos of their lives in their denims. If we find some interesting, we will propose to use their denim as the basis for a wash featured in the following collection. So, together we create a sort of ‘modern vintage’, we will be calling EDWIN INDIGO ‘ORIGINS’ for obvious reasons. Not dug up in a mine, but contributed by someone’s ‘present day’ hard work in breaking in dry denim in order to create their own piece of history.

Already this year we’ve seen collaborations with Folk and Pendleton Woolen Mills. For you personally, which other brands are catching your eye at the minute and who would you love Edwin to collaborate with?

We will be continuing the work project with Pendleton Woolen Mills and we are also currently working on a project with a globally renowned footwear company who similarly to Edwin, have been doing what they do for some time also.

For EDWIN, the idea of a collaboration is about working with specialists in their given field. Sharing ideas with people who know how to make, what they have chosen to make. It’s specialising in experience of manufacturing. There are many projects we would like to realise, however we will take it a step at a time. To work with a watch maker would be something interesting. Time will tell…

A lot of people still aren’t sure of how to treat their newly bought pair of raw Edwin jeans. What tips and recommendations would you give to them to get the most out of their jeans?

It is very personal really, but truly the best is to put on you dry denims and crouch down bending your legs, then rub the leg area vigorously. After that, simply don’t take them off for years. No washing, just let them AIR CLEAN by hanging them outdoors to air. The best personal blueprint will be created by wearing them and not washing them as the indigo fades and drops out and the contours start to form. Best of all, is that this natural wash is unique to the wearer. Wonderful !

However, most people like to smell good and keep their friends close. Maybe put on your dry jeans, jump in the shower, crouch down and rub the leg areas. Some of the indigo will drop out, but this process kind of domestically seals the denim. Then hang dry them in the open air. And wear them in…

On the other hand, if you want to simply buy a pair of EDWIN dry denims, wear them, wash them, live in them then that is totally acceptable also! When you wash them for the first time, wash separately, inside out and hang dry in open air. Some like to dry clean their denims, some like to not wash at all, some like to wash in the home machine as often as possible… In all cases, just remember that if you chose to buy some denim, please buy quality from a real, authentic jeans brand where you can be sure the manufacturing is ethical and clean. You wouldn’t buy car tyres from the pub would you? On the other hand, maybe you would… There’s always someone selling something down at our local!

And finally, what direction would you guys like to take the brand in the next few years and what are you predicting for the future?

We want to stick to the same direction we have been working on since the late 40’s. Good quality, honest and reliable five pocket denim. Having a damn good time learning by discovering and accepting new technologies, developments and theories along the way. The past is good to learn from, and the future has always been inspiring as we are all shaping it in the present.

If you don’t already know, you can catch up with the latest Edwin news at http://www.edwin-europe.com.

While trekking the city centre today looking for some new closet additions, we stumbled across a few eye-catching pieces from the new Diesel Collection. Diesel have done it all in the industry and whether you’re looking for tapered, skinny, boot cut or straight legged denim, they will have the perfect jean for you. The jeans from Spring/Summer are available in new and interesting ‘Blue Icon’ washes which demonstrate perfectly the creative force behind Diesel denim. Below are just two of the washes from the Blue Icons series.

The Viker jean is one of the oldest and best selling models at Diesel because of its outstanding fit and classic straight leg. The Viker 8A7 is a testament to Diesel remaining a denim giant, sporting a trusted, age-old blue wash and a weathered look.

The Thanaz 8B5 on the other hand is a slim fit, perfect for dedicated followers of the skinny jean trend. This jean has a slightly lower waist and has undergone several different treatments including sandpaper, stone and bleaching to give it an old skool, authentic light color.

Both of these jeans can be foujnd at Diesel stockists nationwide and at www.diesel.com.

You’ve probably seen their jeans around already but haven’t even realised.  Humor Clothing is an up and coming underground label hailing from Denmark and these selected shots are a few we’ve picked out of their Spring/Summer 2010 Lookbook.

Humor holds a philosophy to create a style which through materials, designs, details and colours creates an overall look that, on the one hand, is new and long overdue, but on the other hand also commercial and wearable.  It’s good to see a fresh, young brand doing so well and we wish them luck the future.

For more information on the brand, head on over to www.humoer.dk.  As for stockists in the UK, check out OKI-NI.

Busy day today but we just thought we’d drop you guys a quick look at the new spring collection from well known Swedish setup, Cheap Monday.  It seems that holes, abrasions and patches are the pick of the day and the collection makes a strong statement.  You can read more about the brand at www.cheapmonday.com.

We’ve got another quick Spring/Summer 2010 preview tonight from one of our favourite brands.  You know how much we love Edwin here at Denim Geek and we always jump at the chance of having a flick through the lookbooks as soon as they’re released.

Building on this year’s nautical trend, Edwin are basing the bulk of the new collection on a solid maritime theme and it looks top notch.  You can’t help but be reminded of cliff faces and crashing waves whilst browsing through some of the clothing.  Ships and anchors are also the dishes of the day and adorn a number of the tees and shirts on show.  These additions compliment the denim well though and it should please the masses to know that Edwin are bringing back some denim classic cuts and fits along with brand new styles.

You can have a flick through the new lookbook at http://issuu.com/cloth-lurgan/docs/ss-10_lookbook.  Let us know what you think!