The new Dockers Wellthread line from Levi Strauss, available in Canada exclusively at Toronto’s Over the Rainbow will win over those of you who are fans of style and sustainability—or even if you’re simply just not a fan of ironing. “Life with a bit of texture to it is a good life,” says Paul Dillinger, head of global innovation design at Dockers, referring the slightly rumpled look of the pieces in the Wellthread line. “Rather than ironing things and making things so flat—it’s a waste of energy and electricity that doesn’t need to be burned—we’re celebrating something that’s a bit wrinkled.”
It’s about, of course, more than just celebrating a rumpled look. While Dillinger points out that many companies have made great advances when it comes to sustainable clothing, with Wellthread, Dockers took a systems approach that analyzed every step of the process; the designers had to build a new set of muscles, says Dillinger. “Rather than just focusing on one component, such as organic cotton, with the innovation lab, we’re looking at whether we as designers can commit to doing the right thing at every decision point—it’s a systems approach to design methodology.”
Some examples of this you’ll notice in the Wellthread apparel? “In a shirt, the yoke is from an old Victorian practice. It doubles the fabric and is not terribly useful. With intelligent patterning, we have the same fit and a less expensive production process [by eliminating the yoke],” he says. Or take the line’s pocket T-shirt as another example. It features a faux pocket screen-printed on. No one actually uses that pocket, and when you consider the time it took to sew on that pocket, plus how it creates an opportunity for tearing, points out Dillinger, then the illusion of a pocket makes a lot of sense.
The Wellthread blazer, though, is an obvious favourite of Dillinger’s. “We went into the archives and studied the places where our work-wear jackets tend to wear out over the last 100 years and really invested in those details so it’s going to last forever,” says Dillinger.
When pressed to name his top three essentials from the collection, this timeless piece is one. Paired with the Clean Chino (“Low rise with a slim leg but not super skinny—an everyday pant,” he says) and the white shirt? “Boom, boom, boom, that’s it,” he says. Getting dressed in the morning? Now simple—and sustainable. A win-win situation.
