Home (all) Welcome to DENHAM the Jeanmaker´s website. Each card reveals a story which represents one facet of Denham´s vision. Categorised by the collection, garment library, studio & stores, to press reports & the birth of the Cutter´s Council. Designed in time with no beginning nor end, through resourceful innovation and fearless experimentation. It´s a decorated blog. A tailor-made homepage. We hope to fascinate but are equally prepared to frustrate.
Normally when we talk about Yankee Ingenuity we're talking about our shared tradition of making inventive utilitarian improvements to denim and workwear. But this is a whole different take on getting yankee.
Thanks to facebook, I'm slightly ashamed to admit, there are some cool folks digging in the archives for us. Most of their contributions are tangible and end up as specimens in in the DENHAM GARMENT LIBRARY. This one isn't and we've got almost no reason to post it except that it makes us really really smile. To this day denim trends and big marketing concepts are still fickle mistresses, so even now we're not laughing at it. We're laughing with it.
Here's a little snippet of Dutch / American history for you:
The name YANKEE defines a Native New Yorker:
When the British took over New Amsterdam, renaming it New York, there was a bit of animosity between the Dutch and the British settlers. Cheese was and remains, a staple of the Dutch diet, and so the British used to put the Dutch down saying, "Look it's John Cheese". The Dutch used to throw this insult back at the British - John = Jahn, Cheese = Kees. Hence "Jahnkees" or Yankees was born.
Whoever is right, the Dutch have left their mark on those Big Yanks.