Josh Roberts | Online Editor
They are the piece of clothing that nearly 70% of you will be wearing as you read this; they are the item that on average women buy three pairs of a year; they are, according to Yves Saint Laurent, “the most spectacular, the most practical, the most relaxed” thing anyone will own in their lifetime. Can you guess what ‘they’ are? That’s right, ‘they’ are denim jeans and thanks to two Edinburgh students they’re in for a serious revamp.
For many, jeans are the boring basic which constitute the white bread of the fashion world. They’re the item of clothing you pull on in a hung-over hurry without a second thought. The things you chuck in the washing machine, the tumble dryer, with a flagrant disregard for the hieroglyphic instructions on that funny little label. They are the style staple that once on, save checking that you’re not flying low, need no further concern. Jeans are then, for many of us, a necessary but basically unexciting element of everyday life. Like eating or drinking or Phillip Schofield.
A common view this may be, but it’s not one shared by the two students who have just started their own denim line, Edward Page and Louise Thompson. The duo’s brand, Pocket London, aims to buck the idea of jeans as a boring fashion basic and instead sees them as a style differentiator, something that allows you to stand out from the crowd.
These notions are explicitly embodied in Page and Thompson’s jeans through monochrome pockets which contrast the colour of the main trouser. How did they hit on this distinctive concept? “We realised that for item of clothing worn so often, jeans lacked variation”, Page tells me, “our Pocket London jeans aim to build on the beauty of the ‘staple jean’ by adding our unique and understated trademark”.
Since their launch in October the jeans have been well received by both fashion writers and style conscious consumers who have been buying in their droves from www.pocket-london.com and I’m interested to know how the pair got into fashion. “I had an idea I wanted to pursue”, Page explains, “I’ve always had a passion, but every time I tried I got it wrong and made mistakes. I carry a black book around with me full of random ideas and I sat down with Louise and read out of the book. We spoke about the jeans and thought ‘let’s do it together’”.
But breaking into the fashion world hasn’t all been plain sailing primarily because, as Thompson says, ”Jeans are the hardest pieces of clothing to design because a) they’re impossible to make and b) they are impossible to fit everyone”. However, the hard work continues way beyond the initial design stage; not least as both designers are final year students at Edinburgh University. “It’s a tricky balance to get right”, says Page, “I’m still sending business emails in lectures”.
Hard work it may be, but in an industry worth an estimated £1.7bn even modest success could bring the young entrepreneurs huge fortune. That said, Page and Thompson aren’t getting ahead of themselves. “We will be adding a line of t-shirts to the range very soon”, says Page of their expansion plans, “but we’re not going to dilute the brand to make a quick buck…we want to build a solid reputation based on current trends and our distinctive pocket concept”.
Having seen a pair of the jeans for myself I can’t help but feel that Page and Thompson are on to a winner and, especially given that Christmas is fast approaching, I have no doubt that before long Pocket London will translate into bulging pockets for Page and Thompson.
