Welcome Stranger Tries New Denim Look
San Francisco has one of the world’s great denim pedigrees. It is the hometown of the brand that began it all, Levi Strauss & Co. It is also the headquarters of denim emporium Gap Inc. When San Francisco boutique owners Catherine Chow and Corina Nurimba-Hambali wanted to find something to put their year-old menswear boutique, Welcome Stranger, on the map, they debuted a denim line, also called Welcome Stranger.
The selvedge denim line bowed in October. Manufactured in San Francisco, Welcome Stranger is designed for those who have no interest in big labels and logos, Nurimba-Hambali said. Welcome Stranger has a minimal back-pocket stitching and a subtle back-waist label. Its retail price point is $174, and it only comes in straight and slim straight, which is the skinny version of the two styles. Welcome Stranger denim is part of a collection that includes wool plaid shirts and a leather varsity jacket that was co-produced with San Francisco outerwear label Golden Bear Sportswear.
Last year, Welcome Stranger’s clerks asked shoppers what they look for in jeans, and the company took some of those points into consideration when designing its own denim styles. So far, Welcome Stranger is sold at its home boutique, located at 460 Gough St.; Opening Ceremony; and American Rag. Eventually, Nurimba-Hambali would like to open more Welcome Stranger boutiques. Nurimba-Hambali also co-owns influential San Francisco boutique Azalea with Catherine Chow. The duo also opened the Rand & Statler boutique for men’s and women’s fashions at 425 Hayes St. in San Francisco in February. —Andrew Asch
