A Review: Dehen 1920’s Women’s Collection
If you didn’t know, Dehen 1920 is my favorite brand of all time. I own a number of Heavy Duty Tees as well as a few jackets and have always been impressed with the quality, fits, and history of the brand. My only complaint (honestly, I hesitate to even call it a complaint—maybe just a small nitpick) is that I’m too small to fit perfectly into a size XS in their cardigans and jackets. I always come close, but it’s never perfect. That’s not their fault, though. I have size issues with just about every brand I encounter and that’s because “men’s” clothes aren’t sized and cut with people like me in mind—at least not yet.
This week, though, Dehen changed the game for me. They’ve touched upon the creation of a women’s collection for a while now and I’ve been really curious to see what would come of it. All I can say now looking at it for the first time is: wow. I’ve never seen a menswear-centric heritage brand get a women’s line right (in my opinion) until now.
So, sooooo often, when a brand realizes there’s enough interest to delve into the creation of a women’s collection, they go about it the wrong way. A lot of women (not all, but a good amount) interested in heritage and vintage clothing in the vein of aesthetics Dehen falls under wanting women’s sizes are asking for smaller sizes of the clothing the brand already produces and is known for. Often, though, brands miss this point and instead produce items that are slimmed down with tapers wherever they can fit them and call it a women’s collection.
Dehen is the only brand I know of that hasn’t done this. Instead, they just took a few fan favorites and shrunk down the measurements without drastically changing the original structure of the pieces. They’ve also released a pretty broad range of pieces. Usually, women get like three or four options to pick from when a women’s collection is released, but Dehen’s really produced a wonderful array with a decent amount of variety. I absolutely love the rust-colored Club Jacket and will definitely purchase it when I have the money. Also a cardigan. Probably two.
Perhaps my favorite very subtle detail is that they haven’t touched the buttons. Traditionally, men’s clothing has buttons on the right and women’s has buttons on the left. It’s a small detail, but it’s one I really appreciate as someone who hates when things are gendered for no good reason. I absolutely love this milestone in Dehen’s long history and can’t wait to see where else they go with it!