Mack Weldon to Introduce Denim With Antimicrobial Properties – celebritiestalks
Mack Weldon is the latest brand to jump into the jeans market.
Following on the heels of Faherty, Shinola and Fair Harbor, the men’s essentials brand is launching a collection of denim this fall with a focus on comfort and sustainability.
Mack Weldon boasts that its denim line is the first jeans made with Ionic+ Silver woven into the fabric. As the brand’s promotional materials describe it: “These jeans are engineered to keep your legs…fresher longer, making your visits to the washing machine a little less frequent.”
Mack Weldon was founded in 2012 by Brian Berger and Michael Isaacman as an e-commerce purveyor of men’s socks and underwear. Since that time the brand has moved beyond those two categories into a variety of other essentials for men such as high-tech pants, polos, dress shorts and swimwear.
Now the company, whose mission is to reinvent basics, has turned its attention to jeans.
“It fits under our strategy to evolve from an ‘essentials’ brand into an ‘essential’ brand,” Berger said. “And denim is an essential building block of a guy’s wardrobe.”
The customer reaction to Mack Weldon’s product extensions is what gave the company the confidence to expand into denim. But Berger said the goal was to create something more than just another pair of jeans. Rather than build something complicated or Fashion-forward, he sought to simplify the experience by partnering with Cone denim and Noble Biomaterials, the creator of Ionic+ Silver, a naturally self-cleaning antimicrobial treatment that permanently bonds 99.9 percent pure silver to fabric to cut down on odor.
In the past the company has used the fabric in its underwear, polos and T-shirts. By using it in denim for the first time, it will help remove microbes that cause odor, meaning the jeans can be washed less frequently. “We were the first to launch it in underwear and thought it was the perfect application for denim,” Berger said. “For a lot of denim enthusiasts, it’s not desirable to wash their jeans.”
The jeans will initially be offered in two colors and one style.
Courtesy of Mack Weldon
Beyond the fabric, Mack Weldon’s jeans will be washed while being made using an ozone rinse, which combines oxygen with water vapor, and cuts down on the use of water in the production process. “It also enables us to keep a consistent color,” Berger said.
The initial launch will be small — a slim straight leg model in two colors, indigo or black, “with more to come,” he said. “We believe less is more.” The jeans will be 10 ounces with 10 percent stretch and 8 percent silver, and they’ll feature powder coated and matte finished buttons and rivets and bonded pockets seams that are designed to be more comfortable with less bulk.
The collection will launch on Tuesday and retail for $128.
Mack Weldon still generates the bulk of its business from its direct-to-consumer efforts but it also operates six stores including flagships in New York City and Boston. Berger said the company is testing two outlets in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Deer Park, N.Y. The line is also carried at Bloomingdale’s, Dillard’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Von Maur and specialty stores such as Mitchells and Richards.
Berger said his goal is to “slowly and steadily expand our footprint,” whether that’s by adding wholesale accounts of Mack Weldon stores. In terms of product, he’s planning to expand into both fleece and outerwear this fall along with the denim.
Mack Weldon to Introduce Denim With Antimicrobial Properties – celebritiestalks