Bonobos

We’re keeping mum about our political affiliations here at Bonobos–government is serious business, after all, and pants are just plain fun.

By which I mean to say: We had nothing to do with the obamas selling like hotcakes and the mccains selling like tepidcakes. That was all you. Before long the trouser ninjas, who at times have triumphed “Gobama!” were singing a different tune: Nobama! Bonobos giveth and Bonobos taketh away. Or selleth out, as the case may be. And so we feared those bold trousers would part ways with their meteoric namesake and settle into Dukakis-esque obscurity.

We’ve had a change of heart. Specifically, a change of liner. Like the First and Second Continental Congresses–crucial, short-lived, but legendary–that sweet mosaic is no more, but a worthy successor has risen to fill its place. We re-imagined that gorgeous twill trouser in presidential navy with a new liner we call the Hawaiian bandanna. Ocean blue, coconut brown, and sunset rink (that’s red + pink). It’s also a little nod to the state of Barack’s birth.

Even the label sewn inside will tell you: “Born in Hawaii 1961.”

All right, before you write us off as a bunch of granola-munching tepee-dwellers, know that whatever our political proclivities, we definitely acknowledge that the issues America faces are rarely black and white (or blue and red); there are many, many shades of gray (…and purple). It’s fitting, then, as we prepare to reintroduce the obamas and the mccains, that we also launch the clean slates, whose super-soft organic twill belies its battleship gray.

Our arsenal of twill grows stronger. Yours should, too.

After all the fun of our previous competitions (name the navy shorts, describe the dark and stormys, and name the stone twills), we’ve decided to lay down another challenge to our awesomely creative customers (and would-be customers alike): name one of our newest styles, to be launched later this week: a new dress trouser in jet-black. Please make your submission as a comment on this post, and please only submit once. Give it some thought, and give it your one best shot.

We were way too helpful in describing the dark and stormys, so here’s all you’ve got to work with this time: the new trousers are black, with a herringbone weave. They are lined in the same black and red tiger-stripe silk as the tiger sharks. Like the mccains, there is no contrasting back-pocket liner. Oh, and the material? I’ve saved the best detail for last: It’s 100% cashmere. We’re going to put them at $275, but rest assured they’d be about three times that at Barney’s or Bloomingdale’s.

To win, you don’t have to submit a name and a description, but know that it can’t hurt your chances (and that after the extreme lengths of writerly restraint I just went through to bring you the above paragraph in simple, declarative sentences, I, for one, look forward to seeing these new and groundbreaking bonobos get a world-class wordsmithing from one of you out there!).

Wondering if it’s worth a shot? Marcus Coe doesn’t appear to have any regrets as he sports his gratis dark and stormys and sips their namesake cocktail.

That’s right, to the winner goes a pair of these pants on the house–our priciest giveaway to date.

Gents, consider the ante upped. Bring your A game.

The fearless and spirited obamas are outselling the stylish but prim mccains by a factor of nearly two-to-one! After a competitive first few days, the obamas took a strong lead and never looked back.

Haven’t yet decided which pair is for you? Go with your gut, but feel free to lean toward the trouser-right to bolster the mccains’ showing–pretty soon you won’t have a choice, since our stock of limited-run obamas is falling faster than the Dow, and like our Congress, Bonobos is flipping a thumbs-down to a bailout. When they’re gone, they’re gone for good.

(Have I forgotten to mention that our flagship navies are soon to be reincarnated once again, in the same super-soft organic twill as the obamas and mccains, but with a bright floral lining? How Alberto Gonzales of me.)

No recount, not this time. No confounded Floridians or cross-eyed chad-counters or Supreme Court justices of conflicted interest who ultimately green-light a panty raid at the electoral college. In the closely watched and hotly debated 2008 trouser race, we’ve just recorded a landslide the likes of which hasn’t occurred in three generations, since Warren G. Harding and the soon-to-be-known-as “Silent Cal” Coolidge laid an electoral smack-down on the democratic Cox-Roosevelt ticket in 1920. (Whatever happened to that FDR kid, anyway?)

Rare it is indeed, my friends, to pull a coelacanth from the deep, in direct defiance of extinction, ancient fins a-flapping. Rarer still that said coelacanth should be made of lightweight corduroy. You can imagine my surprise when, while perusing the Bonobos homepage, I stumbled upon my old retired friend. That soft, bosky green swiped from Monet’s lily pads… those winking diamonds stripped off one of Picasso’s jaunty harlequins. How could it be? The mint julep was retired ages ago, never to be loomed, sewn, or hemmed again. It had been placed, had it not, on a pedestal with the pantheon of other legendary, retired trousers from Bonobos’ earliest, most incipient days? The f. scott, the black swan, the whistler… the styles one wept for when pulled from circulation, and pined for once cold reality set in. For as the humpback will tell you in whale song, extinction is forever, and forever is a long, long time.

But alas. Like the coelacanth, the ivory-billed woodpecker, and John Travolta, it seems the trousersmiths at Bonobos have a Lazarus species of their own. The mint julep has returned, to strut and rut and wink again. As it turns out, our old friend mint julep did not go gently into that good night, into the dusty annals of history alongside the hula hoop and the dodo bird. He is alive and well, flopping on deck, gasping for breath with primordial lungs, aching to be worn once more. The mint julep lives! The mint julep lives!

My fellow Americans,

From the great continuum of human feuds (Capulets vs. Montagues, Whigs vs. Tories, Lindsay vs. Paris) emerges an historic slug-fest: Bam vs. Mac. Bonobos is proud to enter the fray.

In the late eighteenth century the working class of France, with fire in their eyes, gumption in their blood, and dirt under their fingernails, began a stirring that would eventually deliver the nation from monarchism to democracy. The aristocrats—in their fashionable, frilly silk breeches—looked down upon these free thinkers and their full-length, utilitarian trousers. They mockingly dubbed the revolutionaries sans-culottes, or “without knee-breeches.” In the end, all the dandily appointed silk in the world couldn’t halt the guillotine’s dispassionate dispatchment.

Which is to say: the launch of our newest trousers, the obamas and the mccains, is not the first time politics has crossed paths with pants.

We set out to craft a worthy successor to our awesome midnight blues—a John Quincy Adams of trousers, if you will. We acquired super-soft cotton twill from our favorite mill in Belgium (one of the finest in the world), and the fabric’s deep, presidential navy spoke to us.

Channeling Republican candidate John McCain’s unshakeable individualism, our designer, Brian Spaly—triathlete, heartthrob, and nautical accessories guru—lined one batch of these beautiful twills with an indigo pinstripe (the same fabric we use on the outside of our super soakers). There is no contrast stitching on the belt loops of the mccains, and no flashy fabric in the back pockets. It’s the most conservative trouser we could bring ourselves to construct, but it’s still a pair of bonobos, through and through, made with care and pride right here in New York City.

But what of democrat Barack Obama? He is charismatic and distinctive, yet his cynosure does not disabuse us of the faith we have in our own greatness. He dwarfs doubt, heightens hope. Lined in a daring mosaic of blue, brown, and orange, the obamas strive to accomplish the same—to be a beacon of encouragement, a leader by example.

(Don’t worry if your trouser preference doesn’t coincide with your vote. It doesn’t make you a flip-flopper. We advise taking a bipartisan approach and ordering both.)

The battle lines are drawn deep. The pundits are sharpening their hyperbole, Joe Biden is cracking his knuckles, Sarah Palin is checking her makeup, and Bonobos has made some really gorgeous pants. Which pair will serve as executive trouser? That’s for you to determine.

By the way–we don’t think pants will play that significant a role in shaping the next four to eight years of this nation’s future, but it doesn’t escape us that Abraham Lincoln wore a Brooks Brothers suit to Ford’s Theatre….

Coming out of retirement: so hot right now.

At the end of last season Brett Favre bade his beloved game in Green Bay farewell–supposedly for good. But now he spends Sundays aiming his cannon-arm at Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery of the New York Jets.

Activist and super-athlete Lance Armstrong bowed out of professional cycling three years ago after changing the sport forever. Turns out he was only catching his breath; he announced last week that he’s training to tackle the tour again in 2009.

Which brings us to the mint juleps, our beloved lightweight cords in soft green. They haven’t been available since April and are back by popular demand! Our juleps may not be able to fire a pigskin missile like Brett or inspire the world like Lance, but with our signature fit and a gentle stretch, these guys are perfect for any feat of urban athleticism. Paired with a white Oxford and navy blazer, the juleps take business casual into stunning new territory. Or dress ‘em down, with a t-shirt and sandals. Like their namesake cocktail, our mint juleps fit in perfectly anywhere class and comfort commingle.

Bonobos is having a pants party this Saturday afternoon in Champaign, Il. It’ll be hosted by legendary Bonobos partner Michael Lorenzen. The address for the show is 304 East White St., in the rear party room.

Michael is going to have a sample kit of Bonobos with him, so if you’d like to see any of our stuff in person, and you’re near Champaign, be sure to check it out. Feel free to send around this invite to all of your friends in the area, too. RSVPs to Michael Lorenzen at MichaelJLorenzen@gmail.com  are greatly appreciated.

It’s time for another Bonobos contest.

To the winner? A free pair of our new stretch brushed organic lightweight twill. In the color stone. We call them, for now, Stone Twill.

You can do better than that. What do you call them?

(You don’t have to write the description as well to win the contest, but descriptions will be taken as a factor. Just see our previous contest on the Navy Bleus to see what we mean.)

Football season is so close, you can taste it. School is not back in session, but it’s time to buy your supplies. The heat of summer is still with us, but the evenings simmer down as we slowly creep toward what we at Bonobos like to call FWS. Fall. Winter. Spring.

We’ll miss day games at Wrigley, but that’s about it.

So what do you wear as the sweaty summer days make way for the decrescendo of balmy to cool August evenings? We have the answer. Dress well this late summer/early fall with what we at Bonobos call late summer stretch wool.

We took some exceptionally lightweight stretch wool, and we lined it with silk. Introducing the Jive Cats and the Jackson Brownes. The end of summer. The end of sweaty pants on hot summer nights. The beginning of you thinking about how to transition from one season to another in style.

(This message is brought to you by our the slightly more supple brethren of these two beautiful brown trousers, the latest in our gray wool line - the G5s. Not quite as lightweight, but not far behind, our customers are already picking these up in droves and wearing them in the summertime with a smile. We thought we’d wake you up when September ends on these… but who are we to say when you should wear em?)

After the success of the inaugural Bonobos contest, we decided to up the ante. Over a hundred of you threw out names for a shot at a pair of navy shorts and Bonobos fame. So, we made a second call for creativity. The part wool, part cashmere, and all luxury Dark and Stormys are the jackpot of pants. With the stakes so high (we can’t just give away a pant so dear to our hearts) the challenge had to be tougher.

We found many Bonobos lovers could throw out names for our inspiring pants, but could anyone craft a story as memorable as these Dark and Stormys?

While most of you folded, a few tried. Some were way off target (MRG’s pre-disco ritual) and others were quite convincing (Roby, Ronnie, and Sparky). But, it was ultimately Marcus Coe who caught the essence of these pants best. And for that, he will forever enjoy his new Dark and Stormys. And the rest of us can forever enjoy his story (at least until the pants sell out):

Bermudian winters can bear faint resemblance to the lapis skies and gin-clear waters of summer. Storms roll in, bringing a touch of soggy reality to this fish-hook shaped island in the Atlantic. But no matter, you and your cloudy concoction of Black Seal and Barritt’s Ginger Beer simply change venues: from the front to the back porch, perhaps, where the covered deck allows an afternoon of daring backgammon victories.

Deceptively simple yet layered with intrigue, you and your drink are cosmic brethren. You appreciate the gusto of the occasional hurricane and realize that one must embrace challenge. An endless parade of perfect beach days and pina coladas is not interesting. Weathering 60 knot gusts on the bow of your sloop is interesting. An island that used to be populated only by wild hogs is interesting. Your pants are interesting.

The Dark N Stormy, a buttery concoction of burnished-teak-colored wool with the soft hand of cashmere, is here to help you amble through the cooler, damper climes of the sun’s retreat. A pant to help you weather its namesake, it is perfect for cocktails on your deck overlooking Harrington Sound, a Bloody Caesar at homecoming or grand rounds at Man’s Best Hospital. An orange silk liner keeps your pockets happy, and the herringbone weave encourages admirers to take a second look. My, there’s a lot of depth to that fabric.

You know there’s no reason to mourn the passing of the height of summer. Armed only with a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and a slicker, you grab your pants and head out into the storm.

Jealous of Mr. Coe’s new pants? We’ve had so much fun reading your Bonobos-inspired stories, we can assure you another contest will be coming soon. If you can’t wait, we don’t blame you - we’ll let you buy them here.