Ryan Martin singlehandedly makes some of the best jeans available for his brand W.H. Ranch Dungarees. The Kansas City-based outfit offers 12 historical-reproduction styles made from start to finish by Martin, a sixth-generation professional sewer and pattern maker. And though his jeans list for $375, Martin’s uncompromising attention for detail has garnered him a loyal following and a two-year wait list.
To keep up with demand, Martin launched a ready-to-wear collection utilizing a Los Angeles factory to produce jeans to exacting specifications from the 1950s. The flagship ready-to-wear jean is the R1901 Ryder, a mid-rise style with a slim box and vintage straight leg. Cut from 12.5-ounce Nihon Menpu left-hand twill denim, it features deadstock 10-ounce Texan drill cloth pocket bags. The style has triple-needle chain stitched seams, vintage replica half-selvedge side seams and a standard 35-inch inseam. Also, everything from the leather pulp patch to the raw copper rivets and buttons is made in the USA.
The R1901 Ryder jeans retail for $240 and come in a wide range of waist sizes. They’re not exactly an impulse buy, but the materials are top-tier and the construction methods are hard to beat.
