Loro Piana is the ultimate in luxury. Dickies is the epitome of workwear. Loro Piana Dickies is a crazy high-low crossover moment that, in my book, rivals Louis Vuitton x Timberland for sheer unexpected genius.
The big difference, however, is that this is NOT a Loro Piana x Dickies collab, unlike the luxury label’s groundbreaking ROA footwear.
Instead, these are Dickies 874 work pants made of exquisite Loro Piana wool.
Big difference but similar excellent result: A sublime juxtaposition of sumptuous fabrication and quotidian signifiers.
This genius cultural crossover comes courtesy of retailer ESTNATION, a nearly 25-year-old multi-brand store part of the Sazaby League conglomerate, itself the Japanese license-holder of Canada Goose, Ron Herman, Camper and Madhappy.
You can really get a sense for that far-reaching brand intuition in the Loro Piana Dickies pants, which hybridize two far-reaching fashion elements into something that feels shockingly organic.
Releasing exclusively at ESTNATION’s Japanese stores on August 9, the Loro Piana Dickies are exactly what they sound like: A fantastically clever riff on the timeless Dickies 874 work pant, subtly elevated to luxury suit pants by Loro Piana wool and thoughtful details that range from horn buttons to a Dickies patch lined with exotic leather.
And they’re priced to match at ¥58,300 ($400), quite a step up from the Dickies 874’s typical price point (around $30).
But therein lies the delicious normcore contrast, a similar feat managed by the Gucci x Dickies partnership from a few years back.
Again, not a collaboration: anyone can purchase Loro Piana fabrics — the LVMH-owned luxury label famously produces ready-to-wear but it is also a peerless fabric manufacturer — which does not make usage of LP textiles a “collab.” But it does always make for excellent garments.