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A guide to our two best selling jean fits of the last two decades, how each one came to be, and how to know which one belongs in your closet.
The 103 Artist Patina — Shop All Bottoms
For almost two decades, our two best selling fits have been decided by our customers, and those are the 101 and the 103. We have offered different leg openings over the years, but the basic block of each fit has stayed the same.
The 101 was our very first fit, brought out in 2009, and it has been a best seller for us throughout the years.
The fit is inspired by the old 1950s bikers who would buy their shrink to fit jeans small. They never shrank them. They wore them as is, fitted. That was the basic inspiration, along with one simple idea: we wanted to make the jean your girlfriend would ask you to put on if she could choose for you. Over years of in store sales in Hollywood, that is what I heard most, how great this fit looks on men.
The SGH focus has always been a special fabric that wears better over time, mixed with a fit that is perfect. What I saw was that men had their "work" jeans and their "going out" jeans. I wanted them to be one in the same. To do that, you need a fabric that is custom made in Japan and just as desirable brand new as it is in its worn form.
With all that good stuff comes a compromise. The 101 is a pain to break in, and you need to be a body type that can work with a tighter seat, hips, and top thigh.
As we sold jeans over the years, we saw that we were missing a large group of men who could not fit how they wanted in the 101. That is where the 103 was born.
The 103 fit was born out of a need. That need was to offer the same rock and roll, Hollywood approved fit for guys who needed more rise and more room in the seat and legs. I wanted it to be impossible to know which fit each customer had on if they were standing side by side.
We gave the 103 a taller rise, which is the room from the crotch to the top of the waistband, so it sits above your hips compared to the 101, which sits right on them. With that change, we also gave it a larger hip, seat, and upper thigh.
Anyone who can fit in our 101 will be able to fit in and enjoy our 103. That being said, most of our customers who only fit in the 103 usually will not love the 101 and how snug it is in certain areas.
The funny thing is, the 103 has overtaken our 101 as of late. That is mostly due to the trend in fashion, with jeans being preferred in a taller rise and a straight or loose leg. The 103 hits all of those marks pretty easily.
Shop The 103 Rope Indigo Artist Distress
Our 101 and 103 fits are truly unique, and both are offered in multiple colors. Very soon, there will be new loose leg boot cut options as well. These are already in the works. We have been testing and tweaking, and we have them perfect.
You will have your classic leg options available, along with new leg options rolling out from the end of summer through the new year. Our first new loose boot cut leg is releasing at the end of July, next month.
Whether you are a 101 guy or a 103 guy, you are getting the same custom Japanese fabric, the same attention to fit, and a jean that works just as hard on a night out as it does on the job. The only question left is which one is yours.
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