Jeans with personalities

"Looking at the design table in our atelier in Chevremont, we don’t just see large pieces of raw denim. We see personalities. Characters. Lives to be lived. And so, we give them names.

Cool Pete, Hower, Bricker, Locker. And we dress them up in style, with antique red and yellow brass 13 star-US naval buttons, handmade, natural vegetable tanned leather patches, and our signature back pocket triangle-stitch. We treat them as we would want to be treated. We love them. We hug them. We take care of them. They are, after all, our family — our reason of existence. We need them as much as they need us. No, we couldn’t be without our jeans. We wouldn’t want to be without our jeans. Not even a day."

Cool Pete

As my name tells you, I carry the blue blood of my ancestors in me. Cool Pete they call me; the Dutch coal-miner. The first-born of the Grivec-family. The special one that never got away. I will never go away. I am here to be everybody’s best friend. Reliable, honest, always there to support you. I will blend in when you want me to — and stand out when I’m allowed. Back in 2016, I was born as a regular straight tapered, 14-ounce Japanese red selvedge denim, weighing a solid 1-kilogram. I’ve got the signature back-pocket ’triangle’ stitch, the grained leather patch on my back and antique 13-star brass buttons. I am a true Grivec.

Maker’s Memoir

 “Cool Pete will always be our special one. He was the first pair of jeans Roger and I created for our label in 2016. It took us two years and countless sleepless nights to craft him. I can still remember when I first saw Cool Pete. I was in Portugal to observe the first sample of him (we didn’t yet have our atelier in Chevremont). With tears in my eyes I called my brother: “Roger, we did it! I’m taking him back home.” – Marcel Grivec, Grivec Bros.

Hower

I’m Hower, Cool Pete’s younger brother. I was named after the coalmining job of Jozef Grivec, Grivec brothers’ grandfather. He was a ‘hower’. That’s Chevremontian for: the person that digs away the first layer of coal. Jozef was a strong man. Not just from the outside, also from the inside. He left his home country of Slovenia, to provide his family with a better life. Look at me, and see how well that decision has turned out. Apart from my innate strength, I am the first and only slim fit tapered jeans of Grivec Bros. I like to believe that, due to my smaller fit, I’m the most sophisticated and elegant one of my family.

Maker’s Memoir

 “We created Hower in 2016. It took us two years to design Hower. Being our first slim fit tapered model, he practically sold himself. People immediately liked his (smaller) fit. My most precious moment with Hower was when a woman dear to my heart, 80 years old she was - a local legend - had read about our shop in the newspaper. She’d come over to visit us and found herself taken on a trip to memory lane to the early days of her family business. The moment she tried on Hower, she knew it: he’d conquered her heart.” – Marcel Grivec, Grivec Bros.

Bricker

I’m Bricker. I was created in 2017 as a loose tapered jeans. I’m the one that lights the fire. Back in the old days, the coalminers carrying the coal bricks were called ‘Brickers’. It’s a name I carry with pride. In fact, you can see it when you look at me. As if they were little flames, stitches of orange and tobacco run through my denim. May that subtle detail remind you that wherever you take me, I will bring the potential for fire. 

Maker’s Memoir

“It took us 6 months to design Bricker. Just like our other jeans, he was created with a lot of love and passion. My favourite memory of Bricker dates back to 2017. We (Grivec Bros.) were asked to present at Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven. Both Marcel and I wore a Bricker. Miraculously, in just a span of four weeks we sold all of our Brickers.” – Roger Grivec, Grivec Bros.

Locker

I’m Locker. Grivec’s youngest family member. Born in 2018 as a chino, I was meant to be the different one. The individualist. They’ve made me not from one, but from two fabrics: Japanese chambray and Italian garment dyed fabric. I’m a relaxed fit. In Chevremontian dialect my name means, “Easy”, as in “Take it easy”. I take life, and myself, easy. With the name Locker, it might not come as a surprise that I’ve got big back pockets. Just like the small cabins in which the coalminers would store their belongings, I’ll hold onto all of your precious things.

Maker’s Memoir

 “I will never forget the memorable trip Grivec Bros. made to Italy in 2017. We went to see the first sample of Locker in. Not only that. During our stay we enjoyed great Italian food, music and we visited a proper winehouse (from which we brought back about 12 boxes of wine). Now I think about it: that trip’s dolce far niente - sweetness of doing nothing – is what I see when I look at Locker.” – Roger Grivec, Grivec Bros.