Above - the final 2-Way Pants sample made from scrap fabric really blew my hair back. Note: this was a once off not available for purchase! 😅.
If you know our story, you’ll know that I stumbled into making workwear. I was chaffing my ass off in a standard issue (mens) boiler suit, and I couldn’t find a decent alternative for my curvy, hard working bod. So I started to dream up my own.
And what you may not know is that our pants were an even bolder stumble. It seems crazy now cause our pant fits so well. And they very nearly didn’t happen.
Like the famed creation of Jeans (which started as a ‘half denim overall’) I wanted to see what the bottom half of our overalls would look like without the top. With a bit of a tweak here and there, our Station Pants were born. Simple with a relaxed leg and a stella bum fit. They feature pleats at the front to allow space for a soft tummy.
I was so excited to test the first sample of the Station Pants.
Our Station Pants were such a great fit that many carpenters requested something similar but with all the onsite bells and whistles - leg pockets and hammer holsters. And this is how the Construction Pants were born - a similar relaxed leg silhouette with 7 pockets and 2 hammer Holsters. I’m so proud to make these available in our tough 100% cotton canvas now.
Our awesome Construction Pants in heavy duty 100% cotton canvas.
I have never been a skinny leg woman, but I respected the advantages of a good fitting pair of pants with a gently tapered leg. They can look tough and professional and I was keen to make sure we had all body shapes and styles covered. I wanted something light years away from the women’s workwear pants I’d tried which always seemed to be low rise, skinny and packed with elastane (that always made me sweat).
So I developed a slimmer leg style - and we created a pair with the perfect balance between following the curve of the body whilst still providing room to move. Enter the 2 Way Pants and the Plain Pants. Our solution provided not just solid work pants, but also a fit that I had always longed for - simple and timeless that would never go out of style.
When considering the history of carpenter pants, it’s not surprising that SÜK designs have become a pinnacle of toughness and freedom, as well as a good fit. In the late 19th century, with the industrial revolution in full swing, work-pants had gone from being relatively humble home made productions to professionally produced works of industrialized art, featuring copper rivets and sturdy triple stitching.
Specialist jobs required specialist clothing and details were added to help make these specific jobs easier. In the case of carpenter pants, that meant plenty of pocket space, a relaxed, roomy shape to aid movement and an extra loop on the leg for brushes or hammers.
The Stonemasters abusing their Carpenter pants in Yosemite National Park. Photograph by Jim Bridwell.
I didn’t realise this until recently, but the early 1970s brought about a bunch of change including a new wave of rock climbers based in Yosemite National Park known as the Stonemasters. These guys started tearing through California hardware shops in search of pants tough enough to put up with some serious cliff-face abuse. Carpenter pants were the prefect thing to stand up to the abrasive rock walls and long climbing sessions. As change makers obsessed with a new fast-paced form of climbing known as ‘free climbing’, the Stonemasters needed clothes that wouldn’t hold them back. And carpenter pants were perfect.
Around the same time, these pants were supporting a political movement as well. Young women were wearing them with work-boots as a symbol of women’s liberation, fighting for equality in clothes traditionally reserved for men….
The Women’s Strike for Equality marked the 50th anniversary happened on 26 August 1970. Photo by John Olson / The LIFE Picture Collection.
Something about that sounds very familiar to me and our community. We’re taken this very special style of pant and built them especially for OUR bodies. Something about that feels a little full circle and just so so right.
~ Mimosa x
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