Today we are delighted to bring you an interview with a man who’s passionate about fashion. Michael Pendlebury, AKA The Denim Doctor, is one of Manchester’s most respected bespoke tailors, and, as you may have guessed, he loves working with denim! We caught up with him to find out why he’s ‘sew’ crazy about what he does…
1. Tell us about The Denim Doctor…
I’ve been working with my father at our tailoring business, James Personal Tailor & Son, since I left high school aged 16 back in 1999. I’m the youngest of five children and the only one who could sew to a decent standard! I started when I was eight; I’d bash up my old wrestling teddies while watching Hulk Hogan on WWF and then spend hours patching them up with suit off-cuts from my dad’s shop.
What my dad does for a living always interested me and I was fascinated by both the creative and the business side of things. He’s a smartly dressed chap and that rubbed off on me too. I was a teenager when I started wearing suits with confidence, and by the age of 19 I was choosing fabric, coming up with bespoke designs and helping my father to make them.
Before long I was doing small denim repairs for a few of my regular customers. One day I got chatting to one of them about the fact that raw denim, selvedge Japanese-type denim, has the potential to be big business. We agreed that when it comes to jeans guys often invest in more expensive brands like Edwin, Nudie and PRPS which can cost between £100-300 a pair because they are a wardrobe staple.
James Binney House, better known as Mr Thomas’s Chop House, Cross Street, home to James Personal Tailor & Son
As we spoke I realised that there aren’t many places you can go to pay to have jeans repaired to an excellent standard. It seemed like a good idea to pursue, especially because everyone owns at least one pair of jeans. My dad thought I was bonkers at first but six years on I’ve grown a flourishing business. On average I hem, alter or repair by hand around 100 pairs of jeans a week. People send their jeans to me from all over the UK, Europe and even America. It’s really taken off.
2. How did you come up with the name?
In the early days customers kept saying ‘wow Mike, you are like the doctor of denim!’, but I didn’t feel that this was catchy enough for my flyers or website so I came up with The Denim Doctor.
3. What makes your service so special and unique?
I can repair, restore or alter your jeans to a top quality standard – and this is a service that’s never really been seen anywhere in the UK. I’m a bit OCD about getting the right cotton, colour and finish and everything. We stock loads of different colours and weights of denim, and I’m always buying in old jeans so I can ensure a great match and do a very discreet repair.
I’ve seen denim jackets in shocking states, and jeans with 12 inch crotch rips, destroyed fabric on the front legs, and huge holes in the thighs and knees – you name it! I’ve sorted them all out.
The most common jobs I do on vintage jeans are minor repair works on the crotch and knee areas, shortening hems with chain stitching or fixing ripped internal pockets. In terms of alterations I go that extra mile and stock all the original cotton used by the major manufactures, which means I can shorten, taper, or take in the waist of your jeans and you won’t be able to tell I’ve worked on them. The devil is in the detail!
4. What have been your favourite projects?
I repaired a denim jacket which had a really nice story behind it. It was a Levi jacket from the 60s. The man it belonged to had worn it to death so the collar and cuffs were hanging on by a bare thread! It had been in the back of his wardrobe for years. His daughter sent it to me without him knowing. I worked my magic on it so she was able to give it to him as a Christmas present. He was over the moon to have it fixed and sent me a lovely card with a picture of him wearing it.
5. Have you repaired jeans for anyone famous?
Noel Gallagher is my most famous and regular denim customer. He sends his jeans up from London and I repair his old ones and alter his new ones. Pete Turner from Elbow also is a regular denim customer, he likes his jeans more on the fitted side so I tend to taper the legs to make them more skinny for him. I make bespoke suits for him as well.
We do a lot of bespoke tailoring for Manchester United Football Club
6. Why do you think we are seeing the resurgence of a “make-do-and-mend” attitude towards fashion?
I think that the financial crash in 2008 has made people more money conscious. And of course now with the internet and sites like youtube, it’s become easier for people to learn DIY repair techniques and or to source services like mine.
Hard at work
7. What’s hot in the world of denim jeans right now?
People tend to wear clean cut jeans rather than the distressed ones with patches like Diesel make. Skinny jeans are still all the rage and even though I have seen the boot cut style feature in some trade fashion magazines, I just can’t see it coming back in for a few years yet. Very dark denim in a slim or skinny fitment is what’s hot for 2015.
8. Everyone’s going mad for vintage – why is it so popular and what details are most in demand?
Vintage has been the buzz word in fashion, interior and media trends for a number of years now. I think people love to seek out one-off unique pieces to create, and celebrate, their own personal sense of style. And of course second-hand items also come with a sense of history and meaning that it’s difficult to buy new.
The most popular jobs I do on vintage jeans are the minor repair works on the crotch areas, knee repairs and the shorten hems with chain stitching. And sometimes the internal pockets have bust and need repairing. The vintage Japanese type denim is in high demand right now and some makes are commanding crazy prices online. The more original the better.
9. We saw you on Channel 4’s ‘This Old Thing: The Vintage Clothes Show’ last year and hear you harbour a secret desire to do a documentary or series about jeans… what’s the big idea?
The show was great and a lovely experience. Hopefully they will be filming another show soon and I’ll get to be part of it again.
I think there is a opening for a really well done documentary about denim jeans and their history. It would be great to show how it all began with Levi Strauss’ creativity, innovation and drive and how some states in the USA banned wearing jeans as they were associated with gang culture. I’m sure people would love to know how jeans broke into the mainstream in the 50s thanks to the likes of Marlon Brando and of course James Dean and Elvis, and how they evolved through the decades from flared bottoms in the 70s and stone washed and ripped details in the 80s to boot cut and skinny in the noughties. There’d be celebrity interviews too – people talking about their favourite pair of jeans and sharing funny stories.
10. Do you have a favourite pair of jeans? What do they say about you?
I’ve got a lovely pair of Nudie selvedge denim which I love, but they are still pretty stiff so I don’t tend to wear them as much as my two old favourites: a pair of True Religion jeans and a pair of slim fit Diesels which are smarter for the evening. I like the signature of the thick cotton stitching True Religion use as it’s different to other brands out there.
These 25oz extra heavy weight Ironheart jeans are so stiff when they’re new that they stand up on their own!
11. How do you find juggling both parts of the business and what does the future hold?
I run the business for the love of tailoring and what I do day to day. I tend to work long hours and email late into the night to keep on top of everything going on here, as well as all the denim work I do – via the postal service we offer. My father and I keep on top of the bespoke suits we make between us. I’ve streamlined certain areas of the business to keep profit levels to a decent standard and we do minimal advertising, relying more on word of mouth, internet forums and our websites to drive the people to the door. One day it would be interesting to open up a dedicated Denim Doctor only shop, or have a chain of shops, but a quality personal service is everything and I’d never want to lose that.
12. What are your top tips for keeping jeans wearable for years to come?
1. Wash them as little as possible – every six months for dark coloured jeans. Some Japanese selvedge denim customers only wash theirs once a year!
2. Rotate between two or three pairs. Some people get a new pair of jeans and love them so much they hammer the hell out of them so they wear out a lot quicker than they should.
3. If you do see wear or holes appearing in your jeans in the crotch, knee or pockets, get them repaired sooner rather than later.
4. Don’t be tempted to wear your new jeans straight away if the legs are to long. I get a lot of customers bringing in jeans with scuffed and ripped hems because the rushed to wear them. Get them hemmed first.
5. If trends change or your weight drops, don’t be afraid to get your jeans altered.
You can see The Denim Doctor in action in the video below and find out more about his work and the services he offers at his website here.
