New Release: Benzak Denim Developers BDJ-01 COWBOY jacket.

New Release: A Jeans Jacket for the Modern Day Cowboy.

Posted October 5, 2018

After years of nagging and pleading, Benzak Denim Developers has finally designed a denim jacket!

Lennaert Nijgh and I have been good friends for many years now. I have watched Benzak Denim Developers grow from a Kickstarter jeans brand to a fully fledged sportswear brand (that just happens to still make some of the best jeans on the planet).

For the love of the jeans jacket!

The thing is, as much as I love jeans… and I really love jeans. I love denim jackets more. It was a denim jacket that brought me into raw denim and that love has never faded. So, naturally, I was desperate to see what Lennaert would come up with when he turned his attention to a jeans jacket.

Disappointment, year after year

But, year after year, season after season, one question remained, where is the damn denim jacket?

Worth the wait?

Finally, the wait is over! With the Autumn/Winter drop from BDD comes the BDJ-01 COWBOY jacket. Was it worth the wait? I have to say. Yes, it was!

Two icons combined

Lennaert has taken two iconic denim jacket designs, melded them together and adapted the fit to create the perfect jacket for the “Modern Day Cowboy.”

He looked to the early days of Levi’s for inspiration combining the flapless pocket Type 1 World War II era jacket and the twin pockets of the Type II. Common to both styles were the pleats running down the front and the boxy cropped fit. Lenn has kept the pleats but opted for a more contemporary slimmer fit and a longer body length. He has also abandoned the spade-shaped pockets of the Levi’s jackets in favour of rounded, shovel-like ones. Could this be a little nod to Lee?

Something “special”

The denim used in the BDJ-01 COWBOY jacket is also something a little bit “special,” Special #2 to be precise. Special #2 is the second proprietary denim that Benzak has developed, this time in conjunction with Italian mill Candiani. But more of this in a separate article.

The BDJ-01 COWBOY jacket is available now through the Benzak webstore.

Amsterdam, Benzak Denim Developers, Denim jacket

Matt Wilson

Before turning his attention toward clothing and fashion, Matt Wilson was a product designer. He witnessed first-hand the unethical manufacture of products designed and developed specifically for obsolescence and quickly recognised the inherent dangers of this attitude towards consumerism. A happy chance occurred when he discovered Raw Denim. Fascinated by the narrative contained in each garment, this newfound passion led him into a journey of discovery through the fashion and clothing industry. The qualities he found in a great pair of jeans he soon found in other garments, shoes and accessories. Up until February 2017, Matt was heavily involved with Selvedge Run, a trade show for menswear, shoes and accessories. A home for brands with a philosophy that aligned perfectly with his principles of craft and quality at the core of a good product. He now shares this passion the as the Editor of Rope Dye, an online men’s lifestyle magazine about the passion for well-crafted menswear as well as other cherished products and designs that baulk against today’s throw-away culture.