a new high-waisted pant has entered the villa
jeans for the #kammpants graduate
Do you know what #kammpants are, or do you have a healthy relationship with fashion? (Just kidding).
Here’s a crash course: in the mid-2010s, there was one high-waisted pant to rule them all. The Sailor Pant by Jesse Kamm. Social media moniker: #kammpants. The pant leg pendulum was in full swing away from skinny jeans, so a high-waisted wide leg pant was novel. Fresh. Man-repelling. Perceived as a little bit ugly, as all avant-garde things must be. They came in earthy rich colorway names like Piscine and Iron Oxide, which added to their collectible appeal. It spoke to an aspirational Ojai/Jackson Hole/Sea Ranch aesthetic. Oh, and did people collect. It was like Pokemon, you had to catch them all.
There was an internet drama crash-and-burn surrounding these pants in 2018, and since then it seems #kammpants fever has teetered off. While the internet sensation around these pants is over, they maintain blue chip status at taste-making boutiques like Frances May, Mohawk General Store, and Oroboro. Every season they come out in new colorways and people still buy them.
Do I still wear mine? Sometimes. There is an active secondhand market for these pants, and I’ve slowly sold off a few pairs, keeping only the colors I truly love. But I’ve come to rekindle my love of denim in the past year, because a pair of good jeans makes you feel like your closet has infinite possibilities.
I first saw the pants on Ethaney.
They were a deep indigo with subtle contrast stitching, with a wide (but not flared) leg that gently pouched around the hems, grazing the floor as she strode towards me. She looked so cool in them, like a rancher’s daughter who ended up at Copenhagen Fashion Week. They are designed by