丹寧死忠 如何在紐約尋找心水的牛仔褲
In recent years, among the truly committed, truly discerning jeans shopper, a beau ideal has taken hold: raw selvage denim in styles that evoke the rugged workpants of yesteryear. Think Marlon Brando in “The Wild One” (or his jeans, anyway).
近年來，那些品味卓越，一心專注的牛仔褲購買者開始追求一種理想：不同風格的帶有織邊的粗糙丹寧牛仔布，這讓人想起昔日結實的工裝褲。想想《飛車黨》(The Wild One)裏的馬龍·白蘭度(Marlon Brando)，或者他的牛仔褲吧。
Where does one go to buy a pair? Ideally, Japan, where denim brands use old-school shuttle looms to fastidiously reproduce the styles of 1947. Luckily for New Yorkers, raw selvage can be found at several shops in the city that carry the coveted Japanese brands or make their own denim in that vein, or both.
要到哪裏才能買到這樣一條牛仔褲呢？最理想的地點是日本，那裏的牛仔品牌都使用老式的梭織機器，一絲不苟地仿製1947年的款式。不過幸運的是，紐約人也可以在幾家店裏買到粗糙織邊的牛仔褲了。它們有的專營搶手的日本品牌，也有的自己製作這種質地的牛仔褲，抑或二者皆有。
Consider Self Edge, at 157 Orchard Street, a store open for six years that treats denim like a religion. Self Edge stocks only brands from designers who have “soul to what they do,” said Andrew Chen, a partner of Self Edge New York.
果園街157號的Self Edge擁有六年曆史，把丹寧牛仔視爲一種信仰。它只出售那些“在產品中灌注靈魂”的設計師品牌，Self Edge紐約的合夥人之一安德魯·陳(Andrew Chen)說。
To illustrate the point, he held up the “foreman pant,” the latest release from Roy Slaper, who makes every pair of Roy jeans himself in his workshop in Oakland, Calif. The pocket bag material is a funky design; the inside stitching is made on a vintage machine that leaves a seashell pattern. “You just can’t do this on a production line,” Mr. Chen said.
爲了闡明自己的觀點，他拿起一條“領班褲”，這是羅伊·斯拉帕(Roy Slaper)的最新作品。“羅伊”的每一條牛仔褲，都是他本人在加利福尼亞州奧克蘭的工作室裏親手製成的。褲兜的質材是一種很放克(funky)的設計；裏面的針腳是用一種老式縫紉機制作，呈現貝殼般的樣式。“生產線上做不出這樣的東西，”陳先生說。
Elsewhere, hanging on iron hooks, were a highly edited sampling of jeans by 3sixteen, a denim brand founded and carried by Self Edge, as well as Japanese favorites like Flathead and Sugar Cane. Another Japanese brand, Iron Heart, makes the heaviest denim the shop carries, jeans that wear like a stiff canvas sack until broken in.
店裏的鐵鉤上還掛着3sixteen品牌精心修飾的牛仔褲樣品，這個丹寧品牌和在日本大受歡迎的Flathead與Sugar Cane一樣，是由Self Edge自己創立和開發的。另一個日本品牌Iron Heart是店裏所售最重的丹寧牛仔，沒穿上身的時候，好像帆布袋一樣。
“After a year or two, you end up with a jean that you’re really proud of, that you did work on,” Mr. Chen said.
“一兩年後，你就可以擁有一條自己真正引以爲傲的牛仔褲，可以繼續穿着它，”陳先生說。
Prices range from $190 to $360. And Self Edge also offers hemming and repair services; the hemming is performed on a Union Special, which Mr. Chen assured was the holy grail of vintage chain-stitch machines.
這裏的牛仔褲價格從190美元到360美元一條。Self Edge還提供縫邊和修補服務；縫邊是用Union Special牌縫紉機做的，陳先生說，這是老式縫紉機中最好的型號。
Brooklyn Denim Company, at 85 North Third Street, Brooklyn, carries selvage and non-selvage styles. In contrast to the minimalist gallery approach of Self Edge, Brooklyn Denim stacks its jeans in piles on tables and shelves, an initially daunting shopping experience made navigable by the store’s expert staff.
布魯克林丹寧公司(Brooklyn Denim Company)位於布魯克林北三街85號，它有織邊和非織邊兩種式樣。和Self Edge那種極簡主義的畫廊風格不同，布魯克林丹寧把牛仔褲摞在桌上和貨架上，在專業店員們的設計之下，購物體驗最初有些嚇人，其實卻很方便。
Brooklyn Denim carries the brand, First Standard, which is made in the shop, along with labels like Levi’s Made & Crafted, Tellason, Strom and the Japanese brands Big John and Japan Blue.
布魯克林丹寧經營着First Standard品牌，是在店內製作的，店內還銷售李維斯(Levi’s)旗下的Made & Crafted、Tellason、Strom等品牌，以及Big John和Japan Blue等日本品牌。
Kenny Abiog, a co-owner, said the store also makes custom jeans for denim heads who have something in mind that they can’t find in the store. Prices for custom start at $795. Repairs and hemming are also offered.
店主之一肯尼·阿比奧格(Kenny Abiog)說，如果丹寧死忠們覺得他們想要的東西這裏沒有，店內還提供定製牛仔褲服務。定製價格795美元起，此外同樣提供縫邊和修補。
Perhaps the city’s best source for custom denim, though, is 3x1, at 15 Mercer Street, the brand founded by Scott Morrison, formerly of Paper Denim Cloth and Ernest Sewn. Here, the feeling is a denim atelier, with bolts of selvage fabric in indigo hues hanging on the wall and workers operating sewing machines in the middle of the store.
不過，紐約最好的丹寧牛仔定製店或許還要算是默西街15號的3x1店。這個品牌由斯科特·莫里森(Scott Morrison)創立，他曾是Paper Denim Cloth 和Ernest Sewn品牌的成員。3x1店內的感覺完全是一座丹寧牛仔的藝術工作室，一匹匹各種靛藍色調的織邊丹寧牛仔布掛在牆上，工人們在店中間操作着縫紉機。
The brand offers three options: a ready-to-wear collection ($250 to $325); a custom jean where you pick the fabric, buttons, zipper, thread and other details (starting at $525); and a tailor-made jean (starting at $1,200), ideal for athletes and others with specific sizing requirements.
這個品牌提供三種選擇：成衣（250美元到325美元）；定製牛仔褲，自選制裁、鈕釦、拉鍊、縫線和其他細節（525美元起）；裁縫特製牛仔褲（1200美元起），後者特別適合運動員以及其他對尺寸有特殊要求的人。
Mr. Morrison walked a customer through the 3x1 custom process, explaining the difference between red and green cast fabric (the red is the all-American blue jean, the green is favored in Europe and Japan) and dispensing tips like how to create a dressier jean (choose a matching thread color).
莫里森陪着一個客戶在3x1店內走着，向對方解釋紅色與綠色織料的不同（紅色是美國的藍色牛仔褲上都會用到的，綠色則更受歐洲與日本青睞），他還講了不少小竅門，比如怎樣設計更雅緻的牛仔褲（要精心選擇配套縫線的顏色）。
Still, Mr. Morrison said, 3x1 will make any custom jean you can think of using its hand-loomed denims and detail kit, no matter how bold.
但是，莫里森說，3x1擁有手織丹寧牛仔布和各種精細的配套設備，不管客戶的要求有多麼大膽，店裏都能定製。
“This is about whatever you want,” he said.
“想要什麼我們就能做什麼，”他說。
