Style & Design: American Workwear

Image via Complex Original

Each day, Complex will be releasing new content from the 2010 Style & Design Issue, our annual roundup of the people, products, and ideas pushing our culture this year and beyond. Stay tuned.



America may be a country of ideas, but what makes us truly kick-ass are our tangilble resources. Sea to shining sea, we are gorging on lush vistas-snow-capped mountains, placid lakes, and a glut of proud, tall, life-giving trees that openly mock the parched terrain of landlocked lesser nations. The artisanal American clothing that befits such natural bounty is rugged, tactile, durable, and exceptionally good-looking. Heritage brands like L.L. Bean, Filson, Dickies, Woolrich, Red Wing, and Pendleton remain retail stalwarts not for rote tradition but because radness fosters loyalty. When intelligent deisn makes no stylistic compromises, you get to stick around for generations. And when you stick around for generations, craftmanship is preserved, the secondary market in Japan goes crazy, and Tokyo and London start dressing like Portland. You're welcome, world.