JOURNAL

Our Denim Collaboration with Dronme

Photographed by Imogene Von Barron

Our forever muse, longtime model and wise beyond her years go-to for all things inspirational, Dronme Davis, has teamed up with us to create her perfect pair of jeans. Made in LA and meticulously crafted to be lived in, day to night — from gardening with Granny and barefoot dancing in the kitchen to nights out and about, the Dronme jean is here to celebrate all of life’s moments.

Allow me to illustrate for you the circumstances in which this collaboration came into being.

I was on a photoshoot with the DÔEN team shooting an upcoming collection a couple years ago. It was a deliciously warm day in Santa Barbara, California. Hummingbirds were darting around our heads, sweet melodies were flowing from one of Helen’s expertly crafted playlists, and I was posing on a brick wall, meticulously angling my body in an attempt to conceal the old mustard smudges and impossible to get out period blood stains that had weathered my favorite and only pair of jeans. My stealth attempts to shield the markings of these very lived in jeans didn’t go unnoticed. I had to explain:

My monogamous, albeit toxic relationship with these illustrious pants was something of a fluke. One of my friends had forgotten them at my house after some soiree in college (boxed wine and physical anthropology flashcards), and by the time she realized her mistake, a deep bond had already formed between myself and those size thirty-two high-waisted straight- leg baby blues. She graciously agreed to a trade, there was a jumpsuit of mine that she had been coveting for a while, it was a win-win.

Jump ahead two years, camera ready at the DÔEN shoot, I was still fully wedded to this singular pair of now unrecognizable denim . My defense of my most loved pants — that they were “cool dirty, ya know, in a vintage girl-who-goes-on-spontaneous-road trips typa way” had lost its viability and was now just the sweaty ramblings of a woman deep in denial. This shoot was my intervention, and I was mentally preparing myself for the task of finding a new pair of jeans. But, to me, shopping for jeans was a dreaded experience — that meant inconsistent sizing and blinding dressing room lighting and having the “Is low-rise a thing again? Oh, god no” conversation between me and my laptop screen. My enthusiasm and excitement was at a disastrously low level, which, when it comes to me and shopping, is pretty rare. I made my struggle known.

Days after that sunny and personally illuminating afternoon in Santa Barbara, one of the angelic DÔEN gals rang me with an idea. “What if we make a pair of jeans together? You can’t be the only one in this predicament.” And the rest is history…

Actually, the rest is two years of Zoom meetings and squat tests and tossing and turning at night over which washes to choose. “Are these too blue? Are these too gray? Does anyone actually care what the back pockets look like? How stretchy should they be? I need to be able to wear them to an intimidating restaurant but also roll around on my floor and crouch over my herb garden.” Needless to say, a great deal of care and time and love was poured into these sweet jeans because, as noted, I certainly know the attachment we form with our favorites. These are for every day, they’re for really living your life — whether that’s full of glamour or it’s a beautiful mess, they’re to make you feel good and to celebrate the body you’re moving through this life in.

I hope you love them as much as I do.

Love, Dronme

READING LIST

Dronme’s our go-to gal when we’re looking for a new read, new music, or new musings. She’s shared some of her favorites with us – inspiring pieces and sounds that accompanied her throughout the denim design process.

 

Fellow mythology geeks, I got you.

Wake, Siren: Ovid Resung by Nina MacLaughlin - About women and our fear and our joy and our power. About war and gods and men and their abusing of their power. A tear inducing, rage stoking, incredibly cathartic read.

Women and Other Monsters: Building a New Mythology by Jess Zimmerman - A masterclass on monsters and the male gaze. Required reading for all blossoming feminists and mythology lovers.

 

For short story folks.

Difficult Women by Roxane Gay - Brace yourself, for grief and harm abound here, but women as collateral damage is a reality that needs to be confronted. Stories for chewing on rage and staring down pain. This book purifies.

Milk Blood Heat by Dantiel W. Moniz - A lyrical dive into family ties and perversions of faith, and all the systems that keep us bound and bloodied. Stories told by predators and stories told by prey, and a reminder that being both is what makes us human. Stories about teenage girls and the bottomless void they hover above, an octopus eats its own limbs and a grieving husband aims his hurt at all the wrong things. A book for looking discomfort in its face. This book is holy ground.

 

Got a strong stomach? Feast on these.

This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno - For folks who have grieved. For folks who straddle cultures, never getting to speak in their grandparents tongues. For fans of demons and haunted retro diners. For folks with mother-in-laws. For folks born under a bad sign. I have more questions than I know what to do with, but I don’t think I want the answers. Not sure my stomach is strong enough. My heart certainly isn’t. A tormented masterpiece that lost me a lot of sleep. Could not recommend it more.

Animal by Lisa Taddeo - A story of women and our staying power. A story of women and our breaking points. A reminder that making it out of this place unscathed by the patriarchy and its many sharp and reaching talons is near impossible. This book will split you open, and Taddeo isn’t here to bandage up your wounds. If anything she douses them in lemon juice and orders you to keep going. Just a few more pages. Just one more chapter. Oh? It’s 4 a.m. and your eyes are burning and a white hot rage is working its way up your spine? Come on kid, you’re almost there. Aren’t you curious about what happened that night at the cabin? Or what the coyotes are gonna do next? Don’t you want to know who the father is?” It never ends until it does and I wish it hadn’t.

PLAYLIST

Songs to return to again and again, like a favorite pair of jeans. Listen here.