The Descendants Rethink Denim

You would be hard pressed to find jeans that are more about the business of heritage than those of Imogene + Willie, even though the label is less than three years old. In fact, the collection, which looks as folksy as if it had been painted by Grant Wood, is the second act of a family that once manufactured vintage-looking jeans for labels like Levi’s, Ernest Sewn, Rogan and RRL.

Before starting the company, Matt and Carrie Eddmenson, who are 36 and 37, respectively, had worked for many years at Sights Denim Systems in Henderson, Ky.

Sights, which grew out of Ms. Eddmenson’s paternal grandfather’s textile rental firm, developed denim styles for designers and at one point produced as many as 250,000 pairs of acid- and stonewashed jeans a week. But it closed in 2008, well after most denim manufacturing had moved offshore or to the West Coast.

“We had been making bluejeans for 20 years,” Ms. Eddmenson said.So what were we going to do? Make crepes? We started a mini version of the old company.”

For seed money, the Eddmensons made 250 pairs of custom jeans for $100 each, raising enough capital to open a store in a former gas station in the 12South neighborhood of Nashville.

Since June 2009, they have sold more than 10,000 pairs, each style named after a family member and ranging from $225 to $375. The slim-straight Barton, for example, was named after Ms. Eddmenson’s brother, who is now the director of global product development for Levi’s. The company itself was named after her maternal grandparents.

Although Imogene + Willie was briefly carried by J. Crew last year as part of its In Good Company program, the Eddmensons have waited until this week to expand substantially, now selling the collection at Steven Alan and Park & Bond. The designers are also guest editing the Park & Bond site, beginning Thursday, writing about their favorite spots in Nashville and interviewing one of their regular customers, who happens to be Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys.

Tyler Thoreson, the head of editorial and creative for the Park & Bond site, was attracted to the label, he said, “because they didn’t just say this heritage thing is going to be really big and let’s get in on this.”

“They’re like a band that has been practicing for 10 years and shows up and plays its first live show and everyone’s like, ‘Wow, where did they come from?’ ”

In this case, Kentucky, by way of Nashville.