Photo: Courtesy of Madeworn.
Blaine Halvorson is a jack of many trades: carpenter, designer, entrepreneur, collector, curator, craftsman, gallerist, historian, artist. He is both endlessly creative and exceedingly prolific, living and dreaming on a spectacular and cinematic scale. So, it seems only fitting that the headquarters of his imaginative world, which includes the vintage-inspired clothing line Madeworn, be found in Culver City, a neighborhood on L.A.’s westside that is home to several movie studios.
The 4,500-square-foot, antiquities-filled studio—once a hanger for Howard Hughes’ planes—is designed with as much precision as a museum, each gallery or tableau telling its own story. Walls are covered with art (his own and collected), found objects, and taxidermied animals that Halvorson has given “a second life.” (Animal lovers: Note that his pieces are all antique. Halvorson is adamantly opposed to the hunting of animals for trophy-collecting purposes.) The Montana-born designer is relatively agnostic about where these pieces come from—he is quite adept at mixing high and low—but deeply curious about how each object was made, how it might show signs of age, and how it reveals its imperfections.
Halvorsen’s interest in process and patina is evident in Madeworn, his collection of distressed denim and rock tees for both guys and gals. He goes to near-obsessive lengths to recreate the effects of time and wear, manufacturing each article of clothing using historically accurate sewing equipment that has been tracked down from the ends of the earth (which, it turns out, is usually Japan).
It all pays off, though. The fit and feel of every Madeworn piece is unparalleled. While not exactly heirlooms today, they are certainly heirlooms in the making.
Watch the video above for a look inside the Madeworn universe.