CHRISTOPHELOIRON®

The Continental Trousers, New Old Stock indigo moss blue cotton-linen crosshatch twill, Sportsman Spring 2016, Made in USA

: Don’t ask

The “Continental Trousers”
NOS Italian Cotton-Linen crosshatch denim twill, indigo moss blue
Sportsman Collection Spring 2016

We decided to break the Internet this Spring.
Just by adding a new three-piece type concept to our Sportsman catalog. It will consist of three new garment patterns with a suiting vibe that we’ll exotically call the Mister Freedom® Continental Trousers, Continental Vest, and Continental Sportcoat.
Our intention is less an urge to have Savile Row shopkeepers and bespoke tailors lose sleep over an American invasion than a desire to add an elegant classic touch to our Mister Freedom® Made in USA catalog. So expect a bit of unpretentious suiting for the Worldly Gentleman á la MF® in the Sportsman collection for the coming seasons.

According to how lucky we are digging up New Old Stock loot, each season will welcome a new member to our Continental family. With the finished garments, the idea will be to mismatch pieces according to one’s personal taste and need for a not-so-formal yet sophisticated wardrobe. If all goes according to plan, the MF® Continental concept should make us insanely rich, and you incredibly handsome.
For the TV marketing campaign, our CEO will grow a beard and deliver this heartfelt message:
“You’re gonna like the way you look, but I don’t guarantee it.”

Continentalander. He’s back. Like for serious.

Sometime in 2015, we scored a pretty incredible lot of three different slubby cotton-linen crosshatch twills, milled in Italy. Fallen-off Guido’s truck and acquired in exchange for several kidneys from the Mister Freedom® crew, not much is known about these fabric rolls, besides yarn content, weight and Country of Origin. All three would technically qualify as denim twill, typically featuring a dark-colored warp and a natural-colored weft, but the 30 to 40% linen fiber adds an elegant and crispy touch to the grouping. The three colors we will be releasing the Continental series in this season are charcoal grey, slate grey and indigo blue. There will not be full matching sets available for each color, both intentionally and due to limited yardage.

Our first release is the Continental Trousers, a new 2016 pattern for us. The keen eye will notice the obvious similarities with the Mister Freedom® Sportsman Chinos, already available in several irresistible iterations. But these MF® trousers now feature a slick late 1950’s-early 1960’s silhouette, with a slimmer leg and a mid-rise fitted top block. The belt loop width has also been slimmed down, for a Gentleman trousers feel rather than a workwear/utilitarian vibe.
Fit wise, the Continental Trousers are designed to have a classic slim silhouette. And because, aesthetically speaking, no one cares to experience the Battle of the Bulging Pants around here, the Continental Trousers will not be following contemporary skinny legwear standards.

The fabric choice for the first round of our new pant style is the indigo-colored twill batch, an 11 Oz. crosshatch twill (= a very slubby warp and weft), an attractive 70% cotton and 30% linen blend. It is the inherent nature of linen-blended textiles to wrinkle and, when made into garments, to noticeably stretch according to wear and wearer. More on that in the Fit/Sizing section.

Please note that the Continental Trousers come un-hemmed, with an overlocked leg bottom. The choice of hemming (plain or cuffed) is left up to the wearer. I opted for a classic “American” 1¼ inch fold on my pair, somewhat of a late 50’s reference. We suggest wearing the trousers around the house a bit, before settling on a length that works for you, somewhere in-between 1960’s flood length and the traditional single trousers-break. For grown-ups, resisting the unsightly over-stacking accordion-leg look favored by fashionable streetwear hipsters is always worth the effort. Having said that, to each his own.

The Continental Trousers are designed in California by Mister Freedom® and manufactured in California by Mister Freedom® in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.

SPECS:

PATTERN:
An mfsc original, a re-vamped pattern of the Mister Freedom® Sportsman Chinos featuring a slimmed down silhouette with an elegant late 50’s-early 60’s attitude.

FABRIC:
11 Oz. crosshatch denim twill, indigo moss blue (blue with a greenish sheen), slubby 70% cotton 30% linen blend, milled in Italy. New Old Stock.
Pocketing: NOS two by one (2×1) 100% cotton blue denim, about 8 Oz., origin USA.

DETAILS:
* Elegant late 1950′s early 1960’s type silhouette and fit, straight leg.
* Navy blue corozo wood fly and waist buttons.
* Flat-felled side seam “caballo” all around construction.
* Rear welt pockets.
* Trousers-style belt loops.
* Crotch gusset pattern.
* Adjustable back cinch strap, with vintage NOS metal slide buckles.
* 100% NOS blue denim pocket bags, waist band and fly facing.
* Apple watch pocket.
* Tonal 100% cotton thread construction, with inside green chainstich MF® signature.
* Original “The SPORTSMAN” woven rayon label on back waistback, concealed when wearing a belt.
* ‘Open’ overlocked leg bottom, to suit your cuffing preferences.
* Made in USA.

SIZING/FIT:
Linen-blended textiles wrinkle and stretch. For example, freshly laundered linen garments fit tighter in the morning than at the end of the day.

We recommend the usual initial 30mn cold soak/occasional hand agitation/spin dry/hang dry process. This indigo blue cotton-linen crosshatch twill can pretty much be considered as sanforized, as it will tend to stretch back out to raw measurements after wear, despite the noticeable shrinkage following the initial rinsing procedure.

The Continental Trousers are true to size. If you are a measured-waist 32 inches, you are a stamped W32 in the Continental Trouser. Do not size down on these.
Please note that the Continental Trousers pattern might not be a good option for all body types. Proportion-wise, those with very muscular legs will probably look better in our regular Sportsman Chino models.

Hemming: After the initial soak/hang dry process, we recommend settling down on the final length of the bottom hem after gently wearing the trousers around the house a bit. The crispy cotton-linen fabric tends to naturally bunch/wrinkle and pull the leg up slightly. Letting this specific fabric react to your own body for an hour or so will allow you to decide on a proper classic leg break that works for you.

Please refer to sizing chart for approximate raw/soaked measurements. Soaked = 30mn cold soak, spin dry and line dry.

CARE:
Hand wash or machine wash on delicate, pants inside-out, cold water with minimal environmentally friendly detergent and line dry.
Natural fading of this fabric is to be expected with normal repeat wash/wear cycles, although we have yet to see any faded/worn examples.

NOTE: Full washing cycle in hot water and machine dry might result in maximum shrinkage and color loss. NOT recommended.

Available Raw/unwashed
Sizes (W stands for Waist. I know, but we’ve been asked)
W 28
W 30
W 32
W 34
W 36
W 38
Retail $289.95

Available from www.misterfreedom.com, our Los Angeles brick & mortar store, and fine retailers around the World.
Email sales@misterfreedom.com or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.

Thank you for your support,
Christophe Loiron
Mister Freedom® 2016

Mister Freedom® Cowboy Jacket, Malibu Denim edition, Sportsman Spring 2016, made in USA.

“Here Comes Loiron”

: The MF® fashion runway

Cowboy Jacket, Malibu Sea Denim Edition
Sportsman Spring 2016
Made in USA

For Spring 2016 the first addition to the Mister Freedom® SPORTSMAN catalog, our blob-like growing collection of ‘classics’ with an Army-Navy Surplus store vibe, is a new edition of the MF® Cowboy Jacket. We are using the precious final yardage of Malibu Sea denim we had in stock to make a limited run of that jacket, previously released in both blue and wheat NOS Cone denim in 2015.

This “Malibu” denim is a 13 Oz. indigo-dyed denim twill milled in Japan, and features, brace yourselves, a solid white selvedge. More importantly, it stands out from the ocean of blue denim twills by its ridiculously handsome shade of blue, quite convenient to tone down the daily tuxedo.

“Gotta problem with my tux, pal?”

Here is a bit about that color, discussed as we introduced our Malibu Jeans in 2015:

“… 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…
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.”

: Chuck Connors, “Flipper” 1963 (Courtesy MGM)

: Couac Couac Couac!

: Flipper TV Show 1964-67 (Courtesy MGM-ABC)

The general pattern of the Mister Freedom® Cowboy Jacket is our take on the traditional trucker-type denim jacket, aka third-type jacket everyone is familiar with. We just tweaked a few cosmetic details such as front yoke and pocket shapes. The MF® Cowboy Jacket differs from our MF® Ranch Blouse series by its somewhat 60’s-70’s vibe, going “Here Comes Bronson” rather than “Grapes of Wrath”, more Hollywood margaritas than Dust Bowl moonshine.

The MF® Cowboy Jacket is designed and manufactured in California by Mister Freedom®, in collaboration with Sugar Cane Co.

SPECS:

PATTERN:
Inspired by traditional trucker-type denim jackets, aka third-type jackets.

FABRIC:
Original mfsc “Malibu Sea” denim, 13 Oz. indigo-dyed denim twill, solid white selvedge. Milled in Japan.

DETAILS:
* Fairly trim silhouette, sixties vibe.
* Fabric selvedge displayed on inside front panels.
* Original MF® slanted flap chest pockets.
* Original brass cast MF® branded buttons.
* MF® yellow “M” stitching on pockets.
* Orange and yellow stitch combination.
* Contrasting blue 2×1 denim pocket flap lining.
* All cotton thread chainstitch construction.
* Buttoned cinch-waist side tabs.
* Copper rivet backed by leather washers for pockets and sleeve placket reinforcements.
* Debossed leather MF® original patch.
* Made in USA.

SIZING/FIT:

The blue denim Cowboy Jacket comes UN-WASHED (=raw) and is cut so that the measurements match the labeling after an initial cold soak/line dry.

We recommend our usual method for raw blue denim garments:
* 30-40mn cold soak with intermittent hand agitation, in minimally-filled washing machine or bath tub.
* Spin dry cycle (if using a machine).
* Hang dry.
* As an optional step, wear the garment briefly when still not fully dry, in order to slightly shape it to your body and set creases. Hang and let fully dry.
When following this routine, the denim garment will dry quite stiff, due to the re-activated fabric starch contained in the cotton yarns. This is normal and will subside with normal wear.

As I had done with the wheat version of the Cowboy Jacket, I opted to size down to a Small (36) in this Malibu edition. I am in between sizes (36 and 38) and went for the slimmer/shorter silhouette.

Please refer to sizing chart for approximate raw/soaked measurements. Soaked = 30mn cold soak, spin dry and line dry.

CARE:
Wash when hygiene dictates and common sense prevails.
We recommend turning the jacket inside out to avoid marbling on the indigo side.
Hand washing can be a good option for those concerned with specific wear patterns and high-contrast colors fades. Otherwise, machine wash inside out with cold water, gentle cycle, eco-friendly mild detergent and line dry.

Please note that the debossed graphic on the leather patch will naturally ‘flatten out’ when soaked in water.

Available RAW/unwashed
SIZES:
X-Small (34)
Small (36)
Medium (38)
Large (40)
X-Large (42)
XX-Large (44)

Retail $ 369.95

Available from www.misterfreedom.com, fine retailers around the World, and our Los Angeles ol’ pile o’ rags.
Email sales@misterfreedom.com or call 323-653-2014 with any questions unanswered above.
Thank you for your support,