Episode 042 - Introducing: Men's Justin Jeans

Taylor McAdams: You're listening to the Kick Your Boots Up Podcast, where we swap stories of the West. Whether you're just waking up or getting in for the day, come on in and kick your boots up. Well, today on the Kick Your Boots Up podcast, we interrupt your regularly scheduled programming on the podcast to have a huge announcement for Justin; we're so excited to make this this announcement known, and before I do tell you what it is, let me just give you a little hint. Today I am wearing this beautiful Justin denim jacket. So Hint, hint, nudge nudge you're about to learn more about the denim here. But who none other there's two better people there's no better people than these two people in the room trying to just showcase what Justin denim is all about. So, first of all, I'd like to introduce you guys to JT Griffin. He's the President of Wohali one of the faces and the brains behind Justin jeans, as well as Justin’s own, Mike Moffet, who is the Vice President And General Manager of accessories, apparel, and apparel here at Justin. We're so honored to have these two here. They are the experts in their field. And they are going to tell you all of the fun things that are about to come. So JT, Mike, thank you both for being here. This is going to be really, really exciting.

JT Griffin: Absolutely.

Mike Moffit: Absolutely. Thanks, Taylor.

Taylor McAdams: Of course, and you know, I just can't help but be begin to be curious about how this all got started. So officially, we get to make the announcement Justin jeans are here and better than ever. We're gonna go through the details of the washers, the sizes, styles, everything I'm gonna learn right along with you. So stay tuned. Also, I'd like you guys to know, there's a huge giveaway at the end. So if you keep watching this video, learn what the giveaway is follow the steps and be entered to win something big. So Mike, I'm gonna start with you. Can you tell us about how the idea of Justin jeans came about how it got started?

Mike Moffit: Absolutely. Absolutely. Taylor, thank you. So you know, the whole process of creating what you guys are seeing here has been, I would say at least a two year two year experience. JT and I have known each other for a long time. And we got to discussing, you know about extending the brand into other categories. And one of the things that we talked about as a big category as a big opportunity, obviously is the denim and denim bottoms. So we got to thinking about it. And we started studying the market, we took a look at what's you know, what's out there in the western world who we compete against who's been out there. And obviously, there's there's some key players that everybody knows. But the reality of the situation is 20 years, maybe more, that's really the only choices that consumers have had for denim products in our channel business. So we felt like the combination of that, you know, lack of newness and innovation in the category, along with the iconic nearness and history and heritage of our brand, being 150 years old, was a perfect marriage between the two ideas. So we started discussing this. And, you know, here's the fruits of our labor, we've got a great collection of denim, and we're looking forward to getting it out in the market. We've already got some partners that have putting the product and they're testing the product with us. So we've got a big launch coming. And we're excited about Absolutely.

Taylor McAdams: Oh, without a doubt. And JT, I want to ask you to I know there is lots of long hours and late nights through the partnership with Justin trying to discover the best and perfect jean. So what's your perspective on how it all got started?

JT Griffin: This really wasn't a quick process, it was something that we took really mean, even before the last two years, we've been working on what we wanted to bring to the market and adjusting jean. And so when you take something I mean, that is a brand like Justin has been around since 1879, in denim was invented in 1860. So Justin's brand has been around for as long as basically denims benefited. And, you know, we wanted to be very true to that heritage. And we also wanted to be true to the value in the consumer. I mean, right now, I mean, people are looking for something that's value and a brand that can trust. And we found that Justin, you know, hit hit homeruns on both those points. So

Taylor McAdams: I love that you brought the 1860 from when done and was created because that showcases the many, many trials and errors that they had to have to get where they are today. And I'm sure that there were a lot of harder parts with you guys as well trying to figure out the perfect fit the perfect wash and the reasons behind the formula of cotton spandex ratio. So whoever wants to go first, tell us about what you thought personally was the hardest part about discovering and interpreting and concepting the Justin jean.

Mike Moffit: Well, you know what, I'll start with that because I can start at the 30,000 foot level and then you know JT is going to be good at getting down into the the micro management of it. But one of the things that was kind of a keystone, I guess strategy when we started looking at this if you go out into the market, I mean there's 1000s of Washington, there's hundreds of fits. So the first thing we wanted to try and do is really be strategic and offering the right couple of fits so that consumers can easily Shop our product. Get a fit, try it On and not have too many confusing options and so forth. So we really zeroed in on a couple of very, what we believe to be core offerings a product, JT is talking about the value, I don't JT, if you want to go ahead and drill down into how we segmented the line, because I think that's very important to the consumer for the pricing. Sure,

JT Griffin: I mean, basically, the bottom line of it is, is that I mean, when we looked at this line, from a denim perspective, I mean, we had we had two main focuses in in, and that was going to be in, in fit first and foremost, I mean, you know, if denim doesn't fit, I mean, that is, you know, you know, that's, that's rule number one and then the next part of it is is that value, I mean, we didn't want to create something with a Justin brand that you know, someone was the consumers gonna have to spend over $100 for so what we did is we created you know, a value range that you know, our opening price point on our denim starts at 45 with our classic and goes up to 65 in our in our in our specific 1879 denim and when we talk about the fit in staying there for a minute, we offer three different fits, we offer a j one which is more like a like a modern slim fit all the way up to and then a j two which is get the guy and kind of in the middle of the road. And then you've got a J nine it fits you know, a guy that wants a looser more relaxed fit. So, you know, when you look at it, you know, one of my partners I mean he was a linebacker for OSU and you know, I was a baseball player so there's two different fits that we've got going on but you know, I'm on the j one spectrum and he's on the J nine spectrum and you know, basically everyone that we've had try on these jeans we found that everyone can find a great fit and that was very key to us.

Mike Moffit: Well you know, I'll throw in real quick because being a Western company and I'm a j one guy to just like you right JT so we kind of got all the different fits covered between the three of us. The J one fit while it is a little slimmer and trimmer and updated, it still is wide enough at the Cup opening that it will accommodate most boots, you know, won't won't necessarily cover if you got a really big 13 inch top boot but most boots it will accommodate and if you want to wear casual because a lot of guys were casual is even the Western guys now so it's a perfect Jean for for boots as well as casuals where you get into the J nine you know, I think it's more of a classic you know, boot cut kind of a jean.

Taylor McAdams: Oh yeah, without a doubt and my husband personally is a j two and he wears it probably three or four out of the five work days a week. He just loves and loves them and lives in them and can wear them with his still toe work boots but also the cash the Justin casuals as well so very very well rounded all around Jean and that's why I'm so proud to be here for this announcement because you can tell the amount of time you guys have put into it but I feel like you had to have some fun along the way what's your favorite memory from the very beginning of conception for Justin jeans till now? Is there anything fun that you guys remember that comes to mind? Michael start with you.

Mike Moffit: Yeah, sure what one of the you know, several to be honest with you. But one of the things that I we were kind of chit chatting about earlier is when we started working with these guys, forget about the product, the product, we obviously we put a lot of thought a lot of time and energy into every little rivet and detail and stitch that goes into this product. But when we first partnered with these guys, you know, we have several people we work with from my position I work with lots of different licensees and people that do different products for us. But one of the things that just warmed my heart and it was still to this day and I think about it I get I get emotional. The guys that will Holly came in and presented to us their vision for our brand. And it was a top to top meeting all the executives were in a room and the amount of passion and enthusiasm that they displayed. I felt like they understood the brand is as good as John Justin could have been standing right here next to us. So it's just a heartwarming relationship we have with these guys. And I hope that we the sky's the limit as we go down the road.

JT Griffin: Thanks, Mike. We appreciate it. And we really enjoyed the process as well. And I think the one moment that stands out in my mind the most though is that we had to hurry up and get through that development process though Mark because the donut you know the doughnuts in the mornings every time we have to pack on the pack on the panel. So yes, those are those are some great early morning donut meeting. So

Mike Moffit:I don't even think about how many carbs we consumed in those early days.

Taylor McAdams: So one thing I want to let give a moment for is the Thanksgiving turkey.

Mike Moffit: Oh, yes. So I was up in Oklahoma with at their corporate office and we were having a think tank man swatches all over the table pieces of fabric stitches pocket stitches and you know time gets away from you right and it's getting into lunch hour and And JT says, Hey, man, you guys want to take a break for lunch? And I said, Yeah, sure, what do you what do you got? He goes, Hey, I got the perfect lunch for you. There's a little sub shop down the street that we order from. And it's called Thanksgiving on a sub. And I'm like, what is that? And so I tried it. So basically, it's Turkey dressing and cranberry sauce all jammed on the sub sandwich. And it was an experience, right?

Taylor McAdams: It's making me hungry right now. That sounds dope. Yeah,

Mike Moffit: it was. It was crazy. Yeah, it was fun. It was fun.

Taylor McAdams: Well, I'd love to hear about the fun parts of it all. And that's what Justin is all about. And especially this podcast here is telling the stories behind everything and kind of moving on to the more meat and bones of this whole podcast is the quality of the denim and the washers and the FITS and all the different I mean sizes. You guys have paid every detail forward. So Mike, if you don't mind, will you give us the rundown on the overall quality wash bit of the Justin jeans?

Mike Moffit: Absolutely. So there's the easy way to describe there's there's three components to our line. And JT if I miss the actual technical fabric construction, please, please jump in. But to start the whole collection, the core piece of our line is called Justin classics. It's this rigid, unwashed. And I'm all the Western guys know exactly what I'm talking about. When I say rigid on Washington. It's the kind of jean you start it up. And you just go set it in the corner of your bedroom and it stands up all by itself. That's that's this fabric does that. But the interesting thing about it is, the younger hipsters have really started to gravitate towards this rigid unwashed denim because it's got a cool industrial look, you can cuff it and do some fun things. So this is our, our opening price point of $45 rigid on washdown. The next and it's oh, let me back up. Sorry, it's 99 Cotton, 1%. Spandex, everything we do is got a little bit of spandex in it, which is interesting not to get off track. But I was in California going to visit boot barn probably 10 years ago, before we ever thought about this. And I went into a store. And there was a pair of jeans there for men. And they had spandex. And I thought that's kind of weird. So I tried them on and I have never gone back, I will not wear a pair of jeans without FedEx, because this just makes such a difference. So everything we do is got some spandex and infrastructure. The next piece of the puzzle is the original Justin originals, which is the same fabric construction, it's 99 Cotton, 1% spandex, but it's washed. So it's got a much softer hand, very comfortable, there's two washers, there's a light in the medium wash here, and this jean is is just a great everyday, you know, core piece to wear, then you move over to our 1879 which is our, I'd say it's our it's a you know, good better best, it's the best piece that we offer, it's a $65 retail, it's a cotton poly spandex blend, and JT, you might want to go into what that means. Because it definitely adds a work potential element to it.

JT Griffin: Sure, I mean, you know, with with this, I mean it, you know, we can get into all the details of the testing and give the charts and everything there. And that'll be on the website later. But this fabric is actually twice as strong as your traditional cotton fabrics. You know, that was the whole, you know, we wanted a jean that guy, you know, could get go out and work in, he could go to you know, after dinner afterwards in or we can go to church on Sundays. And so, you know, that jean kind of does that all I mean with with that, and you see that in the Handfield other part of the big element was, you know, in a lot of 99, you know, in spandex, you know, cotton rich fabrics, you have stretch, but you don't have recovered by adding the polyester into this, you know, into the mix, it gave us the recovery into the into the fabric and so what you're gonna find is that, hey, you can go out and you can work in this all day long, and you're not, you know, it's not gonna be stretched out, you know, and that's, that's, that's huge for guys there, you know, are are needing the stretch, but they're also not wanting to at the end of the day, you know, be you know, have to hike their pants up all day long. So, that was a key element to to the 1879 denim and just kind of point this out my you know, the call outs in the the tags that you see like you go from the left and right you have the black, you know, the classic, you know, call out there and then you have their original which is a different pocket flasher and then you have the 1879 pocket flasher to make it very easy for the customer to recognize, you know, the differences in each it's the denim because a lot of times when you go and you look at a denim wall, you're just people are overwhelmed like what do I go by? So we've tried to make it easier to identify, you know what it is that the customers want and they're looking for I'm going in looking for this rigid unwashed piece over here. Okay, well that's you know, my black you know, pocket flasher and my Justin classics Am I looking for you know, just a great value and price point. That was the year Justin originals, but if I'm looking for you know, our top of the line of work pants something that's going to be our workhorse I mean, a meat potato bar line is going to be 1879 jean which is You know, called out by that different target flasher.

Mike Moffit: Yeah, you know, that's a good. So in kind of getting back to where we were before, just from an architectural perspective for how we laid the lineup tailor to Jamie's point, I mean, we've got very clear messaging to the consumer. But again, we also from a fit perspective, we're very strategic in what we did. So we didn't want to overwhelm the consumer, but we wanted to have the right couple of two or three fits that we felt covered, you know, 99.9% of the bodies out there. And so far, everything that we've done, we've done hundreds of focus groups, Fit Test fit trials, everyone walking around the office, for the most parts, got a pair of jeans on, and I think we we came, we came in, right on spot on, as far as you know, fitting everybody. So we're excited about that, for sure. And

JT Griffin: those fits there, too, Mike are called out not only in the differences of the J, one, j two in the J nine, but they're color coded with a different color code on each one of those in the right, to kind of make that a call out as well. Because again, you know, it can get very confusing when you're looking at denims. I mean, everyone really has to, you know, try one on to see which one they liked the best, but at least it's going to allow you to, you know, get in the right zone of where you know, where you want to be before you go and try to pair on. Yep, absolutely.

Mike Moffit: Absolutely.

Taylor McAdams: Definitely. And maybe one day, we can do a try on video or a try on guide to help people understand the different fits. But I will say you guys have done an incredible job. And I want to tip my imaginary hat to you guys, because you have truly covered every body type, every personal preference, every style, every just genre of work. You know, people can wear the same jeans all day to work in and then clean up a little bit and wear them at night to if they want it. So I commend you guys, the amount of attention to detail is immaculate. So I personally am excited to see everyone else out there start wearing them and tagging us in their stuff because it is going to be monumental, the things that they are going to be able to do and they're just in jeans. So thank you again for that you guys and kind of moving on to like a heartstrings part my favorite part personally. Because the speaking of the detail, the detail on these jeans goes far beyond the just construction, you guys have thought of every single piece that goes on these jeans and more particularly the pockets the rivets. So right now I just want to have the opportunity to ask you guys what makes this jean or these jeans different from all the rest with the attention to detail that you guys added throughout. So Mike, you want to give it give it a shot

Mike Moffit:JT I got I got a prop sample here. So I can take everyone through all of the all of the thinking that we did. In fact, I'm gonna use this one because the pocket flasher was taken off of it. So to start from this on hopefully this, you guys can see this in the cameras. This is this good enough. So every Justin jean that we do, everyone knows Justin Big Red j, the big red j is our stop sign in the market. So people recognize this. So every Justin jean is going to have a red ribbon in the corner of the coin pocket, which will pay homage to our history, history and heritage. The the waistband is a really cool distressed. The waistband is a really cool distressed kind of a tea cloth almost we call it so it's just got a really neat vintage II kind of feel to it. The buttons embossed with Justin, every rivet, even if it's not red is a custom Justin rivet. And this is kind of neat. This is a little show until nobody really thinks about it. But it's just something when you put on a pair of jeans you go, that's cool. So all of the pocket bags on the inside have got our standard of the West call out which is kind of cool, right? It's something that you don't see. But when you try it on you look at that, that's that's kind of cool. Then if you flip around to the back of the jean, another subtle call out is a red bar tack on the center of the back belt loop. You can see it coming and going. You'll see that you'll see the red J and B the red the red color and then there's a little woven Justin logo on the on the outside of the pocket. So we've really tried to be you know, deliberate what we're doing but tasteful and give the consumer a chance to really know that these weren't Justin's and then you've got of course, obviously your big leather patch that says Justin on it. So, you know I think we did a good job now i It's okay, Jay, Tim, take one more minute to talk about the pockets. Because this is another interesting thing. Taylor. When you talk about a lot of doughnuts and late nights and talking about this, this project right here is ongoing. And it's one of those things that is a complex mathematical calculation. So because Justin is in every man's brand and because we're really pushing the value we thought we would try and keep that part of it simple because the male consumer may look at a crazy design on a pocket and not buy it because of that, but really the average guys probably not going to have an issue if It's a little bit more simplistic so on our on our classics, and our originals, we just opted for less is more clean, great look and jean with a nice pocket treatment for our 1879. We dressed it up a little bit, I'll try and fold this back with just a nice, heavy whipstitch going across the pocket and a little bean stitch there in the middle of the giving it a little bit of a visual texture to it. But I will tell you as far as your audience is concerned, I'm certainly taking any kind of ideas. So if some people out there go, Hey, Justin pocket stitch should look like this, send it in, because we're still trying to look beyond where we are now as to what could what could make sense for us.

Taylor McAdams: And I do know you guys have some things in the works for the future. I know moving forward to women and the future there. And so yeah, we're open to any and all suggestions on the pocket art that would be really cool. If you do have an awesome idea, go ahead and just DM us on social media. And maybe you'll get a shot of having a chance of your pockets on the Justin jeans in the future. But uh, you know, Mike, I really appreciate you taking the time to share with us the story part, because personally, that means so much to me. And I know, a lot of people out there anyone who puts their foot into adjusting boot, they step into a story, a legacy, a, just, they just changed their their aura all all together, they they get to be a part of the history. So the red rivet really means a lot to me. And then the standard of the West pocket. I love that and, and ladies, let's be honest, I definitely love looking at the little red bar tag every day when my husband walks out the door to leave work for work. So ladies, there's something there for you to write. Yeah, and JT, I want to say thank you to you as well. And for the for the futuristic really quick, what do you what do you see in the future? I know, we have a lot of things in the works with apparel. So maybe let's just briefly on the spot, talk about a few little things we're working on?

JT Griffin: Absolutely. Well, you mentioned it right there from a lady's perspective. That is one that was right in the middle of work right now. And so I think right around the corner, sometime in late December, early January, you could be seeing the the first pieces of the ladies, the ladies down, you know, start emerging into the market, if you will. So, you know, just as you said earlier, I send designs in since since some ideas in and hey, you might be inspired. And the next thing you know, you might have your pocket design on the on the back of Justin. Ladies Jean. So there's we like inspiration from everywhere. I mean, anything that we're doing from a design standpoint, we have an incredible design, our design development offices, just just around the corner from the Justin offices in Arlington. So we've, you know, that's worked really well with, with us being able to work hand in hand with Justin, in developing all of this. And for the ladies line, I think there's gonna be something very special as kids and kids as well. So our goal was to bring something to the entire family and by 2024 Our hope is to have that and in church earlier on the way for men, so maybe that's the next podcast, right?

Taylor McAdams: Oh, yeah, and you guys heard it here first. I mean, there's lots of the work so you're gonna want to stay engaged, you're gonna want to stay tuned. Be sharing, follow our social medias constantly for new updates. But I will say you can get your own pair of Justin jeans by visiting our website at WWW dot Justin boots.com. Go ahead and click through you'll be able to find your size, style wash all of it. We'd love to hear your feedback to be sure and leave us a review once you purchase your jeans. And okay, I think it's time you guys do announce the giveaway, don't you? Yes, absolutely. So because you've watched the video all the way till the end, congratulations for making it this far. We're going to give away five free pair of Justin jeans. So you'll have early access your own opportunity to get your hands on some Justin jeans, all you have to do is follow the podcast on whatever platform you're listening to Apple, Spotify, Google I Heart Radio, YouTube, follow us, make sure you're following along and click the link in our description. After that, you'll be able to answer a few questions on a job form. And of course, we're just asking for your information so we can be able to send you those jeans. So go ahead and click through those and you'll be on the list to have an opportunity to to get your own free pair of Justin jeans to be able to give us your own feedback. And I just want to say thank you for listening. If you've made it this far, congratulations. We appreciate it. And be sure to stay tuned on all of our networks to make sure that you know exactly what we're up to. JT, Mike, thank you for being here. I wish you the very best of luck and I can't wait to see you on the next podcast when we talk about all the more fun things we have going on.

Mike Moffit: Thanks, Taylor.

JT Griffin:Thanks, Taylor.

Taylor McAdams: Thanks for joining us on kick your boots up. I'm your host Taylor McGann And we can't wait to share the next story of the west until then feel free to like subscribe and leave us a review follow us on social media at Justin boots to keep up with our next episode and we'll see you the next time you kick your boots up.