It’s always a sad day when the brands that do it right have to shut their doors, and that is soon to come for New Zealand’s own Ande Whall Denim Co. After an accumulated 21 years spent in the rag industry, owner and sole-proprietor Ande has announced that it is time to move onward and upward to focus on a new chapter in his life, which includes working on new art projects as well as helping his friend open a vintage store. Here are some parting words from the man himself:
I would just like to thank the denim community for all the support since my humble beginnings talking with liked-minded guys on SuFu, learning about denim in all it’s intricacies. “Came for the denim, stayed for Supertrash”.
Most of all the support I was given after the earthquake, all the donations by all the generous people out there, it helped me immeasurably to get the operation up and running again. It went a long way to buying new hardware which is really quite expensive for a one man brand; you have to buy thousands of those little things!
Big thanks to my good friends Kent and Emily who raised some post quake funds also, hugely appreciated. I have had some amazing customers and some funny yarns, some guys with 10 plus pairs, you know who you are.
Big thanks to Superfuture, Wayne is a legend, the SuFu lads and lasses and Heddels of course who supported me through the years with their great and informative site! A massive thanks to Shun-san at Kuroki denim in Japan, he’s a top bloke and has always looked after me and I think they produce some of the best denim there is.
One piece of good news is before he hangs his hat, Ande has enough material left to produce roughly thirty more pairs of jeans, and encourages folks to place their orders now for the last AW jeans to ever be made. Thanks for all you’ve done Ande, and best of luck in the future!
