Dappered

Affordable Men's Style

Kickstarter Style Roundup – November 2013

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It’s been said before, but it’s worth saying again: Kickstarter is not a store. Yet, many looking-to-launch brands in the retail world seem to use it almost as such. The massively popular funding platform has been leveraged by independent clothing, shoe, and accessory makers to acquire the money they need to get going. The likes of Gustin Jeans, Anstead Watches, and Flint & Tinder all started there. BUT THERE ARE RISKS. Estimated shipping times for the “rewards” can be woefully inaccurate, and the goods get out the door late. And once those rewards get there? Sometimes they disappoint. Still, Kickstarter is worth keeping an eye on. Here are Christian’s Kick-starer Picks for this month. Caveat emptor.

OriJeans: Made-to-Order Selvedge

Ori Jeans

I have personally been on a huge denim binge lately and discovering Ori Jeans has only increased that hunger for a great pair of jeans. With products made of American and Japanese denim, the creators of Ori Jeans wants to deliver a high quality product for a wholesale price while adding some great customization to make these your “dream jeans”. Ori Jean’s most alluring attribute of their products are the custom fit option that also comes with it. With a small selection of three body types to choose from as well as your measurements, their goal is to get you an incredible fitting pair of jeans for a reasonable (for selvedge) price. They’re also giving you the option through the power of the internet to “choose from a number of fly and pocket options.” $99 would get you a pair of jeans from their basic line. Production is in the Ukraine.

 

Rossling & Co Watches

RandC Kickstarter

Could potentially become one of the most versatile watches around. Rossling and Co watches have a great aesthetic that could go with the most basic outfits and still maintain the elegance you’re looking for when you have to throw on a favorite suit. This campaign has already greatly surpassed their goals, and should fund tomorrow (11/21).  The watches are extremely thin, sleek, and put a modern spin on a vintage look. Sapphire crystal, Swiss Quartz, 40 mm in diameter, and five tweed strap options to pick from. Four case/dial color combos, and one of their stretch goals unlocked optional blue hands on the white dial watches. $139 would get a watch and strap combo of your choice.

 

Hucklebury Shirts – Made in the USA, 365 Day Guarantee

Hucklebury kickstar

American Made, Italian Woven 100% Egyptian cotton shirts, and they’re guaranteeing them for a full year. $69 would get you one of three designs seen above if they fully fund at $15,000. $25,000 and another three designs become unlocked. Same goes for $35,000. One thing to note is that they did have to restart their campaign after successfully raising their goal amount earlier this month. Check out their size guide on their website to make sure you’d fit in one of their shirts.

 

Owen and Fred – Made in the USA shaving kits, duffels & briefs

Owen and Fred

Three bag designs, each under $100, all made in the USA, and the brand has already been featured in GQ. They got their start making custom leather luggage tags, but they’re going to the next level now with these offerings. It is at least a little assuring to see an already established company, looking to make the next step instead of starting from scratch. $45 would get you a shaving kit bag, $79 would get you their duffel bag, $89 would get you a briefcase. Each bag has three different color combinations to pick from. Each type of bag has a different saying screen printed on the inside. The shaving kit shows “Hey Handsome” when you open it, the Duffel has “Work hard, Play Hard” on the inside, and the Brief has “The Best Way To Predict The Future Is To Create It” on the interior. Nice touch!

 

Trofeo Wallet

Trofeo Wallet

A wallet needs to be simple, perform all it’s functions properly and will hopefully not leave any unsightly bulges in you outfit. Trofeo does all of that and it’s made out of the same material that’s used in Lamborghinis. So having this in your back pocket theoretically should make you feel like a baller. Theoretically.  At $120 a yard, this material is not cheap. They’ve added an elastic strip in the middle so it’ll make it a bit easier to access your cards. $25 gets you one of these wallets.

Thoughts from you guys? Would you consider backing one of these projects? Have you backed style-related Kickstarter projects in the past? How did it work out? Leave it all in the comments…

Comments

  2. That wallet is intriguing. I rarely carry cash, so the money clip on my bosca card holder is more of an unneeded protuberance than useful accessory.

  3. Not to be a hater but although these are all cool projects and all their products look interesting, I’ve seen already in production/retail products that look similar to these for similar or lower prices (maybe not for the selvedge). I still enjoyed the article, but what’s the appeal of these products?

  5. I’m usually wary of kickstarter campaigns as it seems like an easy way to run a scam – can anybody tell me why I’m wrong to think that way?

  8. Actually Kickstarter makes it quite difficult for the company to scam people as the card is not charged until the project is backed. At that point the company must deliver the product. The biggest issues are delivery dates slipping and products not being up to the quality as described.

  9. Gustin. Made in America, but without the custom options offered by Ori. If Gustin went custom without changing their prices, I’d say Ori is nothing new. But custom makes a big difference if they do it right (for instance, my first pair of Gustins, though great material and construction, do not fit all that well).

  11. Have they changed their rules lately? Last I checked there was nothing you could do if a project got backed and then either failed to deliver/were a scam (same thing from the backer’s POV)

  12. The custom fit really makes all the difference. I’ve never bought a pair of Gustin jeans, but after looking over their options, it’s pretty clear they won’t work for me — the rise on my Levi’s is already dangerously low for my body, and Gustin’s rises are even lower. Ori seems to be offering different rise heights, which is just about enough to get me to finally Kickstart something.

  14. they are contractually obligated to kickstarter to follow through with the project as they describe. kickstarter warns that not every project will work out even if pursued in good faith, but if there’s evidence of scam they can investigate/sue, in which case the campaigners would be guilty of fraud.

  15. I sent in a styletip on the watch. As far as I’m concerned the appeal is that it looks amazing (better than the minimalist Daniel Wellington watches that are popping up everywhere), the quality and price (compared to what DW or, say, Shinola offers for quartz) are fantastic, and no one else out there is doing a tweed watchstrap.

  16. On the bright side, if you like the idea, the project funds, and they get the initial shipment out the door but eventually fail as a business, you end up with a potentially sweet, extremely limited edition product!

  19. Ding ding ding. I measure 32/34, and am unwilling to gamble that Gustin jeans won’t lose any leg length over their lifetime. It’s exciting to find 16oz denim made-to-measure that won’t shred my checking account.

  22. Welp, just backed Rossling and Co. at $139. I have been looking for a watch that I could wear to work and on the weekends, and this has serious potential.

  23. I’m a 32/34 (Gustin 33) and can confirm that Gustin’s hold up well. I have seven pairs, with two more in process. The actual length is longer so you can hem or cuff..

  26. The Trofeo looks like it has enough stretch to be useful. I have gotten card holders as gifts but you can’t put much in them and I use a money clip too.

  30. Not sure about that wallet. Why can’t they just say it’s made from Alcantara? That is the material they are describing. Except they are quoting it as more expensive than it is and making it sound more durable than it is. There is a reason, other than price, why a lot of cars only use it on the headliner or other parts that don’t see major wear and tear.

  32. The risk is there. Of the 30+ that I’ve backed, there are 2 that are significantly late in delivering rewards. One was rather small, and I’m not very concerned about it, but on the other one the creator hasn’t been keeping the backers updated except for very sporadic comments every few months. (And even then it’s minimal information.)

  38. There was a dapper watch called “Talley & Twine” that was funded around the same time….here’s a picture….