In 2005, Chris Lindland started the San Francisco-based company Cordarounds with a simple pair of corduroy pants. But before you write that off as totally boring, consider that these pants come with a little innovation–a horizontal wale. A range of earth tones from the outside, the pants also boast patterned waistband and pocket linings that peek out with bright whimsy. It’s all a little nod to the way a hipster can make the fusty cool again, and it’s marketed with a serious dose of appropriate irony (“Horizontal corduroy lowers drag,” “Drastically lower your crotch heat index,” etc.).
A little crude? Yeah. But Cordarounds have caught on, and Lindland’s business has blossomed. Now, under the moniker Betabrand, Cordarounds have been joined by a full lineup of limited-edition pants, jackets, accessories and the Black Sheep Sweater, made from the undyed wool of black sheep.
The goal, Lindland recently told the New York Times, is “not to try to create the coolest, most cohesive line of clothing, but to create the most conversation-worthy line of clothing.” Each week, Betabrand produces a new item for its online-only store, often accompanied by silly photos and faux-scientific studies and interviews. E-mail newsletters go out to those who make a purchase, and they’re full of the same–“99 percent fiction and 1 percent fashion,” Lindland said.
Betabrand Goods
The new Bruce Lee version of the Karate Casual pant, embroidered with Lee-inspired icons and printed with Lee’s own original sketches.
The Bike to Work pants, business-apropos chinos with inner reflective material.
And Disco Pants, which sort of speak for themselves.
The reversible Black Smoking jacket and its brown counterpart are “corduroy by day, chaos by night” with a basic corduroy side and a loudly printed brocade side.
And the Gluttony pants, developed in part with chef Chris Cosentino of Food Network fame, have three buttons, letting wearers adjust as their bellies expand.
Lindland hopes to tap into people’s desires to be different–a good reason for the clothing, and for the company’s new campaign asking fans to send photos of themselves wearing Betabrand offerings.
“Our customers are starting to have this visual communication going on through funnier, more interesting fashion photos that have a decidedly do-it-yourself quality to them,” Lindland said.
Funny, interesting, fun–that’s what it’s all about, in the end.
