Desert and Denim

The Anti-Trade Show

By Gianna Keiko Rankart // giannakeiko.com // @giannakeiko

Photo by Skyler Greene of Candy Mountain Collective

We are not here to talk about work. Or womenswear. With brand slogans like “Be Honest, Stay True” (Hot Cakes) and “Find Some Place to Get Lost” (Iron & Resin), Desert & Denim is the anti-trade show. Here, you’re more likely to juggle a herb-infused organic cocktail (Art in the Age) while hand-dyeing a hemp tee-shirt (Jungmaven), when waiting for a constellation tattoo (Premium Oakland), than discuss how to make outdoor gear appeal to both your fly-fishing dad and your vagabond little brother. Desert & Denim isn’t about selling another slightly different jacket. It’s about a larger cultural shift. One could argue that it’s inspired by the distinguished dirtbags at Patagonia on Black Friday, who told us “don’t buy this jacket,” and instead urged us to repair our thrift apparel. The choice not to consume and conform reflects a mindset and value structure that has developed outside the paradigm of retail supply chains.  

Desert & Denim was a two-day gathering, though most folks hiked and camped for a week, hosted by Juniper Ridge—a wilderness perfume company whose fragrances are inspired by scents experienced on trails and around campfires. Upon entering and receiving an intoxicating Desert Denim Wash spray, I asked how the event came about and if it was going to be an annual affair. I was told, “Basically, Obi Kaufmann and a couple other guys got drunk and were ragging on all the shitty trade shows they’d been to. Will it happen next year? Ummm, ask me at the wrap party.” A self-proclaimed “drunken poet,” Obi is as authentically Kerouac-ian as they come, and is wicked at remembering names. He’s the same vibrant spirit around a campfire at midnight as he is at 9 a.m. leading a foraging hike in the Mojave Desert. The event was small, approximately 23 brands and 100 or so attendees. The booths were invite-only, and tickets to the public were offered only a few days in advance, making it more akin to a curated artists’ salon than a giant outdoor industry trade show.

Focusing on creators and makers, Desert & Denim is equal parts debauchery and inspiration. It’s only fitting that it took place at the Mojave Sands, an eco-chic boutique motel in Joshua Tree. The hotel is managed by Sue Burnett, who was formerly a part of exclusive vintage and vintage-inspired brand Wasteland. One of the most refreshing parts of walking around the booths was interacting with authentic designers and visionaries who are on a mission to reconnect raw, hand-processed goods to thoughtful communities. There weren’t any well-intentioned representatives: Everyone in attendance had indigo-dyed fingertips, scars from welding, and stories to tell about failed dye processes. There’s an honesty to the people behind the brands. Peg and Awl, a contributing couple, said, “Well, we got started because I got pregnant. Our work is made from old things. We used to make them for ourselves, and now we make them for everyone.” Similar stories abounded as creators shared their sourcing and techniques. 

Photo by Colin McCarthy

There were demos for days on everything from natural dyeing, leather care (Otter Wax), and whiskey-making (Workhorse Rye), but they had to compete for attention from complimentary men’s haircuts (Fellow Barber) or sunset motorcycle rides captured by drone cameras on dried-up lake beds in the Bureau of Land Management territory. Desert & Denim isn’t about stocking stores with the hippest “lumbersexual” gear—it’s about connecting consumers to the process, the creators, and why we choose lockstitch construction techniques (Jack/Knife), chain-stitch techniques (Ft. Lonesome), or hand-shaped fur felt hats (Havstad) over mass-produced industrial goods. It’s uncompromisingly American-made, and reminiscent of simpler times, built to withstand even the best shenanigans.

We went to the desert to howl… to be modern anthropologists. We are here to make the best goods possible, while deriving inspiration from nature and experience. Our goods allow the consumer to become part of the process, and unite them with unapologetic, trailblazing makers and creators. We haven’t gathered these visionaries to talk about budgets and sales, push a lifestyle trend, or figure out how to make money being designers. We came to the desert to uphold the creative spirit that emerges in the in-between moments, the negative space, the room to roam. As Camus said, “With rebellion, awareness is born.” 

desertanddenim.juniperridge.com // @juniperridge

NEWS FLASH! They're planning another one and you can help. Just pitch into their kickstarter. Heck we did and it didn't even sting.

Fall 2015 // Release Party

VANCOUVER BC, Let's Party!!!! Swing by The Shop Vancouver this Saturday Oct 10th, 6-9pm and grab a free copy of the new Stay Wild Magazine. Chug some drinks with us while your at it, eh? BEER: Postmark Brewing KOMBUCHA: Brew Dr. Kombucha 

Can't make it to the party? That's fine, we'll have a copy waiting for you at your favorite shop down the street >>>

The Speedster

“I built the car around the front end as a Speedster that kind of looked like an airplane. I reversed a 1931 Ford Model A chassis and put a Ford 221 V8 in it out of a 1962-1963 Ford Fairlane. I Z’ed the frame and dropped the rear. It drove so rad with the independent front end and the ridged rear suspension. It really was a rad blessing. It is street legal. Pretty much. I get a lot of grace, I’m sure, driving down the road.” 

—Brian Bent, jack-of-all-trades, artist, rebel, born and raised in Southern California

Photos by Paul Collins // paulncollins.com // @paulnemirahcollins

Caving In

The Pure Imagination of Mount Hood’s Ice Caves

Photo and words by Vic Garcia

On a random Tuesday, I was at work dreaming I was someplace else. I checked the weather on the mountain. Conditions were choice with an ideal 24-hour forecast: not too warm, not too cold, sunny, clear, no wind. Fuck it, I had to go! Without much hope, I texted a few buddies, praying someone would call in sick and join me. Without question my buddy, Adam, was in. I picked him up before dawn the next day so we could get to the trailhead around 6 a.m., and we ended up at the caves around 9:30 a.m. It wasn’t the easiest hike in the world, but the caves were worth it. In fact, I can’t imagine I’ll ever see anything so jaw-dropping again. I felt tiny and insignificant and vulnerable, and yet, so damn good. The caves felt like a place I wasn’t supposed to be. And the scale? Ginormous. They’re so perfect, they almost seem fake.

I’m not a scientist or a geologist, so I’ll do my best to explain the caves in layman’s terms. The Sandy Glacier Caves on Oregon’s Mount Hood basically began with a small finger-sized tube of water, carving its way down and out the glacier. The water is a product of the melting glaciers, and the tube is a result of erosion. Over time, the tube has been weathered and crafted into a sort of shoot that gets larger and larger as it descends, spitting out into gaping holes. The bottom of the tubes eventually melt down to bedrock (the mountain), and there lie the wondrous caves. Water continues to flow through them. It’s wild. Pure Imagination, one of the Sandy Glacier Caves, has a raging river flowing through it. Another cave we explored is called Snow Dragon, but unfortunately, we visited in winter, so the water was buried under a base layer of snow. The craziest feature was the frozen waterfall near the entrance of Pure Imagination: a moulin (vertical shaft) formed from melting and erosion, just like the cave, and eventually, the water broke through and created the waterfall. When we were close to it, we could hear water still flowing through the middle, like it was hollowed out. I couldn’t have dreamt up something more mind-bending if I tried. At the end of the day though, these caves exist because Sandy Glacier is slowly receding into the shadow of Hood’s summit, and regrettably, someday it will cease to exist. 

vicgarciaphotography.com // @VG___