By Robin | August 20, 2017

Spring/Summer 18 Interview with Karl Thoennessen from Rogue Territory  

As to the Robin Denim SS18 series, we had the opportunity to have a look behind the scenes of several popular denim brands. We have put together five questions and with those questions we want to give you an exclusive insight and a little sneak peek in the upcoming spring/ summer collection. Last week, Tatsushi and Keita from Momotaro Jeans spoke frankly about their upcoming Spring/ Summer collection.

As a follow up to this interview, today Karl Thoennessen, founder of Rogue Territory, will provide us with an exclusive insight into their upcoming SS18 collection, by answering the same five question. We are very curious about the influences and processes behind the SS18 collection. Karl will mention some of the fabrics that RGT will release next spring and he will also reveal the starting point of every new collection.

 

SS18 Rogue TerritoryPhoto Courtesy of Rogue Territory

 

  1. What can we expect from Rogue Territory considering the first collection of 2018?

We always strive to find and work with unique fabric, and this season is no different. We wanted to explore the layering of different patterns. You’ll see indigo-dyed plaids, stripes, new denim and woodland camo, to name a few.

 

  1. Where does the initial inspiration for the upcoming collection come from?

My influences usually stem from the fabrics I find. I’m drawn to fabrics for a number of different reasons, whether it be the hand-feel, yarn character, color, pattern, weave process, or a happy melding of all of the above. Once I’ve selected the fabrics that I’m excited about, I think about their application. With most of the fabrics I select, I know immediately what I want to make out of it. Sometimes a fabric will spark a new design or help me flush out some ideas I’ve already had floating around in my head, and other times the fabric works perfectly for an existing design.

 

SS18 Rogue TerritoryPhoto Courtesy of Rogue Territory

 

  1. Can you describe the process behind the upcoming collection?

I go into every season knowing what existing signature styles we’re going to incorporate into the upcoming collection. I always like to introduce a couple of new styles with each collection, so at this stage I’ll have those new styles fully flushed out and either know what fabric I want to use, or I’m looking for the right fabric to bring it to the next level. After I’ve selected all the fabrics, I start making piles of fabric swatches that I think work best with each style, and then I edit. As I’m editing, I look at how fabrics and colors work together. It’s very important for me to be able to build multiple looks out of the collection. I don’t like stand-alone pieces. I want people to be able to view the whole collection and say, “I can really wear any of these things together.” If that happens in my mind, I know we’re on the right track.

 

  1. For denim brands, autumn/winter is usually the best season to sell, have you tried to change it with the new spring/ summer collection?

I definitely try to keep the seasons in mind as we’re building the collections. This season, the majority of the fabrics we’re working with are lighter in weight than what we’ve done in the past, and feature cotton/linen blends, which promote better breathability. With that said, you can still wear most of them throughout the year. We always strive to create pieces that are seasonless and timeless, hence our slogan “For Every Season.” We typically work with primarily raw fabrics, but for SS18 we’ve applied a cold rinse to our proprietary Indigo Selvedge Canvas (ISC) for a softer hand and a more relaxed broken-in look.

 

SS18 Rogue TerritoryPhoto Courtesy of Rogue Territory

 

  1. What do you think is the most promising item in the upcoming collection?

 

  1. I’m excited to bring back our Field Jacket and I think that it looks really strong in the 8oz waxed Woodland Camo. That has been a really fun piece to incorporate into the collection.
  2. Really stoked on the indigo-dyed cotton/linen blend shirting.
  3. We’ll also be introducing 2 styles in a great 13.5oz redline selvedge denim from the Cone Mills White Oak collection. The first being our all new Type 3 jacket, and for the second style we’ll be re-launching a fit we introduced back in 2009, called the “Standard Issue”, which has a relaxed seat and upper thigh with a tapered leg. It’s always fun to go back into the archive and re-release pieces in a new or different way.

 

SS18 Rogue TerritoryPhoto Courtesy of Rogue Territory

SS18 Rogue TerritoryPhoto Courtesy of Rogue Territory