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Nov 27 - Extravagant Wishlist - Meermin
David Shuck
November 27, 2024
Together with
Extravagant Holiday Wish List 2024
Our wishlist of the most indulgent, exorbitant, and ridiculous items from our favorite brands and retailers.
James Smith
It’s the most wonderful time of the yeaaaaaar! Welcome to the start of our Heddels Holiday Gift Guides. We’re beginning, as usual, with our Extravagant Holiday Wish List, which you may remember as a compilation of the most indulgent, exorbitant, and ridiculous items from our favorite brands and retailers.
In truth, it’s unlikely anyone will buy you or me anything on this list, but there’s nothing stopping you from emailing it to the biggest ballers you know and hoping for the best.
Maybe you can convince someone that this Y’2 Leather IB-140 Indigo Horse Hide Type 1 Jacket would be the last Christmas present they’d ever need to buy you?
Made from indigo-dyed horsehide, this is a truly special leather rendition of the iconic ‘Type 1‘ jacket introduced by Levi’s in 1936. You’d be able to smell this musky equine leather from under the tree — even amongst the delightful scents of Christmas dinner cookin’ away in the background. And no matter how good that stuffing looks, you’ll be more interested in the majesty of this indigo-drenched leather. And if your loved one had got the sizing right, this is the jacket. You have our permission to go full N64 kid if you’re someone lucky enough to be opening this on Christmas day.
Available for $1,400 from Blue Beach Denim.
Would it be a Heddels Extravagant Wishlist without some really expensive jeans? No. This year, though, Momotaro has taken things to a new level with a $1.6k pair of 0605 Jeans that take up to a year to produce.
Produced in extremely limited quantities, the denim used on this artisanal pair of Momos is dyed with natural indigo using Japan’s traditional “Aizome” method. This storied process involves naturally fermenting specially selected indigofera leaves for over 100 days. Once the dye is ready, yarns (Zimbabwean cotton yarns, in this case) are hand-dipped in the indigo once a day for 30 days straight. The result is something that can’t be replicated with more industrial dyeing processes. Once woven into 13.5 oz. selvedge denim, a plethora of natural indigo hues pepper the fabric before any fading has started. A year of wash and wear and these will be a work of art, guaranteed.
While the Aizome denim is the star of the show here, the natural tapered jeans are given royal treatment with custom .925 silver hardware, silk yoke lining, and a hand-woven natural indigo sashiko waist patch that depicts the gourd used to catch the demons in Japan’s Momotaro folk tale.
Available for $1,639 from Redcast Heritage.
/ Together with Meermin /
Introducing the newest version of Meermin’s Wholecut Chelsea Boot, featuring Flex Goodyear welt construction on the comfortable Negon last.
Crafted from a single piece of leather and hand-blocked on the last to ensure a perfect fit. Also including the latest addition to our leather collection; the Waxy Calf from Prime Tannery—a thick, vegetable-retanned calf leather that ages beautifully and becomes more comfortable with each wear.
Equipped with a convenient double city lug outsole, this boot is built to handle whatever comes your way. Embrace style, durability, and comfort with the latest version of their popular Wholecut Chelsea Boot.
I’ve had the browser tab open for this Iron Heart x Indigofera blanket since it dropped and every time I look at it I notice something different. It’s not exactly festive, but it’s everything else. Hard as hell, tattoo-centric without leaning too far into played-out traditional tatt designs, and capturing imagery from both brands with a literal mechanical heart and the griffins synonymous with Indigofera’s branding. This awesome design is credited to acclaimed artist, Björn Atldax.
It doesn’t just look cool, either — it’s made in Norway from 100% wool. And if Norway is one thing in winter, it’s cold. Like, baltic. Despite that, Norway is the 7th happiest country in the world. That might be down to the low unemployment and progressive social policies, but I reckon it’s really because they’ve all got lovely Norweigan wool blankets to snuggle up with.
Each Iron Heart x Indigofera Friendship Blanket ships with a 25 oz. denim/leather carry strap, made by Iron Heart in Japan.
Available for $557 from Iron Heart.
While a watch like this Hamilton Khaki Aviation Pilot Pioneer 43mm is certainly an extravagant gift, it’s a guaranteed heirloom. But before the next generation gets their mitts on it, you get to enjoy its beautiful Swiss quality, timeless military style, and insanely detailed construction.
From the heavily textured black dial to the train track chapter ring that runs ’round the face, this is one of those timepieces that literally cannot lose. Brushed metal finishes will keep small scratches from tarnishing this beaut, and the large textured crown will be a joy to use. And use it you will, ‘cos the Hamilton Aviation Pilot Pioneer is hand-wound. A tactile nod to the past that will prompt you to slow down in a fast-paced world.
Available for $1,050 from Windup Watch Shop.
This is my first time handling the Extravagant Wish List (feel free to be proportionally critical in the comments) so I had to include a personal grail of mine. I’ve toyed with the idea of buying this Kapital BORO SPRING 1st Jacket numerous times, but it would be the first time I’ve breached the $1000 bracket on a purchase and it’s double that and more. And to be honest, I wouldn’t get loads of wear out of it. It’s more of a work of art that encapsulates everything I love about this niche – heritage, detail, making and mending, nuance, and the ever-growing sartorial relationship between Eastern and Western histories.
It’s basically Kapital’s wide and cropped Type 1 silhouette made up of a Frankenstein blend of sashiko, boro, reinforcements and repairs, etc. Try explaining this one to Grandma. I guess I don’t want to wear this one every day, I just want to own it.
Available for $2,146 from Blue in Green.
Hikers aren’t for everyone but Crown Northampton‘s Everdon Rambler is. Taking the function and traction of walking boots and working them into a refined wholecut casual hybrid is true Northampton alchemy.
Seen here in Olive Tan Buffalo leather, the Everdon rambler comes in a slew of different leathers, all of which come fitted with a rugged Vibram all-weather sole. Each pair is handcrafted in Northampton by skilled craftspeople with heritage in the Northampton shoemaking odyssey, featuring a wholecut one-piece upper with French binding, full natural veg tan lining, oak bark counter & stiffener. Completely resoleable and wearable in every season.
Available at Crown Northampton for $550.
This Artifox desk is expensive but it’s less than the aforementioned Momotaro hand-dyed jeans and it could completely transform your WFH space. For someone who spends a worrying portion of their life at a laptop, this desk appeals to me massively.
The Artifox Desk comes in 3 colors and two heights – a standard height and a standing height for my Desk-Induced Recurrent Osteopathic Issues gang. It’s also made in the USA and has a dock for your iPad and other accessories, as well as a handy cable grid for easy cable management.
You’d want to contact Artifox to check if your desired desk would arrive in time for Christmas, but maybe receiving this mid-Jan is ideal? You don’t want to be tempted to log in to your work emails at your snazzy new desk during the holidays.
Available for $1,890 at Artifox.
A couple of the Heddels gang noodle with guitars, myself included. And while I’m typically more of an electric guitarist, my recent rise into the top 5% of John Denver listeners on Spotify has got me back into acoustic big time.
Guitar Satchel is a young brand that started in 2023 but the Soft Sided Acoustic Guitar Gig Bag looks like something that’s been around for years. This makes sense considering founder Jason Walsmith is a career musician who has been formulating this thing for over 30 years. Jason wanted a Gig Bag to match the level of craftsmanship put into his guitars, and boy, did he achieve that.
The Soft Sided Acoustic Guitar Gig Bag is crafted in Iowa from heavy dry waxed cotton. Designed for acoustic guitars, it has a quilted cotton felt interior to keep everything protected, MIL-spec brass zippers, leather reinforcements and carry handles, and comfy webbing-reinforced shoulder straps. If you travel with an acoustic guitar, it honestly can’t get much better than this.
Available for $499 from Guitar Satchel.
Coherence is a baller brand, for sure. Whilst not very accessible, there’s a reason it’s popping up in more and more retailers. It offers a level of quality that’s hard to surpass within the outerwear field. It’s ‘wow-inducing stuff.
The Corb II Whiptwill Over Coat is made from an innovative weave that is practically waterproof without any modern tech. It’s a tightly woven wool twill with a mouline warp yarn. Mouline is a highly textured plied yarn created by wrapping strands of cotton around felted wool. This fabric is insane – peep the close-up.
The silhouette is also just brilliant. I would usually layer a hoody under this kind of thing, but I would have to let this Coherence piece take center stage. If I was ever lucky enough to own one, that is.
Available for $2,662 from Lost & Found.
I have always wanted a piece of vintage Boro to hang in my office. Because despite being lucky enough to use the term ‘my office’ in a sentence, I still get disproportionately stressed about the small stuff in life from time to time. Boro is the essence of the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi (侘び寂び), a worldview that champions imperfection, finding the beauty and nuance in it.
Seeing a piece of boro always reminds me of this concept, and keeps me grounded in the fact that life isn’t perfect, nor is it meant to be.
Available for $985 from Kiriko.
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