The “Malibu’s”, sea and sand denim
The Sportsman mfsc Spring 2015

Before Jeremy Slate rose to fame for sharing knuckle sandwiches with the King over girls, girls, girls sometime in 1962, he had been one of the men of unusual daring in the short-lived 1960 TV show “The Aquanauts“, a “Sea Hunt” spin off. Based on the water adventures of a group of wreck-diving buddies off Honolulu, HI, the show was renamed “Malibu Run” in 1961, as the characters relocated and opened up a diving shop in Malibu, CA . When not fending off villains underwater (Columbo in latex, anyone?), Jeremy Slate’s character often sported these cool off-white cotton trousers (I’ll have to do some screen captures when i find time).
Slim silhouette, flood length, waist tab, no belt loops, à la McQueen.
More generically, white jeans were at the time a common staple in beachside fashion. Whether you surfed or, like the Beach Boys, didn’t, ‘wheat’ jeans were the thing. If you were near sea and sand, you were not too far from white Levi’s®, pique 519’s, sateen Lee’s, or whatever cream stove pipe jeans or Broomstick slacks the 1962 Sears catalog offered…

We have already tapped in this 1960’s style of pants in our recent past with the piqué Speedways, but figured you could always use another sniff of marine air and added the Malibu’s to the Sportsman catalog. We changed a few things on the pattern, removed the buckle back and slimmed down the fit a bit. This season also introduces two color options…
For the off-white version (sand), we are using the ‘desert denim’ developed around 2012 for the Gunslinger Denim Jumper and Pantaloons, a very textured, slubby, unbleached yarn ‘eggshell white’ denim, milled in Japan.
For a touch of color, “Flipper” (1963) came to the rescue. We developed an indigo-dyed selvedge denim to match the washed-out indigo blue shade ever present in the old sea-faring metrocolor movies and TV shows. During those ‘happy days’, denim distressing was often a DIY thing. Actors in character routinely wore their own personal (naturally-aged) jeans on set. Legend has it that Brando wore his own (studio-altered) Levi’s in “The Wild One” (1953).
For an extra salty seafarer look, the studios Wardrobe Depts distressed blue jeans with the help of bleach and pumice stone. Washed out blues blended better with beach scenery.
Today the world is a much better place, since human intelligence has applied its achievements to prêt-à-porter. Indeed, one can now buy brand new garments with holes and stains straight off the mall shelves. Luckily, trend forecasting and brand promoting blogs never fail to remind clueless consumers where to get the good stuff.

Anyways, we wanted a similar effect without the bleach/distressed part, an indigo ‘Eastman Kodak’ blue, if you will. So we simply opted to start with a lighter shade of indigo for the warp yarn.
Believe it or not, this proved much trickier and challenging for the Japanese mill than producing a dark indigo denim.

So, there it is. Light blue indigo.
Back in California, all we needed to do was brainstorming over a proper name for our new denim. Several meetings later, we settled for ‘Clear skies over Diamond Head as the daffodils dance to the chant of the Ko’olau winds over the sun-drenched lagoon indigo sea wash’ denim, although Cristian was ok with ‘the blue one’.

 

That’s for the color.
When it comes to construction, some might wonder why the legs of our “Malibu” jeans are not displaying the fabric selvedge… We went for flat-felled side seams instead, saving that little white line for the waist band. But don’t let the street fashion brigade give up on you just yet. Should an horrified fashionistozoid© give you lip after noticing your sans selvedge cuff, take off your pants and show them what they’re missing. Flash the handsome pocket bags while you’re at it, we’re talking vintage NOS fabric Jack!
If nothing works, stripping while in line for my cappuccino has shown to be a great way to meet new people, amuse friends, and scare the children.

We realize there are a large number of naked people in this post, and apologize for the inconvenience. Here are two more.

 

The “Malibu’s” are designed and manufactured in California by Mister Freedom®, in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co. Fabrics milled in Japan.

SPECS:

PATTERN: Original MFSC pattern. Slim ‘stove pipe’ early 60’s silhouette.

FABRIC:
a) Malibu’s Blues: 13 Oz. indigo-dyed denim twill, solid white selvedge. Milled in Japan.
b) Malibu’s Sand: 12.8 Oz. natural warp x White weft, 100% selvedge Cotton, solid white selvedge. Milled in Japan.

DETAILS:
* Tab waist band, concealed closure snaps.
* No belt loops.
* Side snap cinch tabs (adjusting waist by about 1½” when fully cinched)
* Flat-felled seam construction.
* New Old Stock pocket bags: 1960’s vintage 100% cotton stripe twill.
* Zipper fly, brass “Gripper Zipper”.
* Discreet “M” stitched rear pockets.
* Tonal stitching, 100% cotton thread.
* Made in USA.

SIZING/FIT:
Most denim will shrink and stretch after the early rinse/dry/wear cycles. This settles overtime.

Both natural and blue denim options of the “Malibu’s” come raw/un-rinsed. They will initially shrink to approximate similar tagged size after an original cold soak and line dry. Please note that further shrinkage can be achieved by machine drying the jeans (turned inside out to avoid marbling), but our chart measurements reflect only line drying.
I am usually a tagged Waist 32 in mfsc jeans, and went with a tagged Waist 31 with the Malibu’s Sea (with no heat dryer.)
The Malibu’s fit pretty slim, our slimmest silhouette so far. The side tabs allow 1½ extra cinch in the waist, when both snapped to the tightest position.

I am personally partial to the ‘flood’ look, as opposed to modern stacking effect, and also think these look better not cuffed. Because leg creases tend to pull the fabric up with wear, it is a good idea to test wear the Malibu’s hem folded inside for a while, and adjust the length to your liking before getting them cut and hemmed. Please note that the original bottom hem of the Malibu’s is made by a single stitch machine.

Please refer to chart below for measurements.

CARE:
Launder when hygiene dictates and common sense prevails.
Machine wash. Cold water, gentle cycle, eco-friendly mild detergent and line dry. We recommend turning blue denim garments inside out to avoid marbling when washing.

Available Raw (unwashed) ONLY
Tagged Sizes
W28 × L33
W29 x L33
W30 × L33
W31 × L33
W32 × L33
W33 x L33
W34 × L33
W36 × L33
W38 × L33
Retail $289.95

Available soon from www.misterfreedom.com

Please call the store at 323-653-2014 or email [email protected] with any questions not addressed above.
Thank you sincerely for your support.