Most everyone loves a good pair of jeans, but perhaps no one more than Kelly Durand.
Durand is the owner of Desert Denim Company, which offers vintage Levi jeans, tailor-fit by Durand herself. Her goal, she said, is to help her customers feel comfortable and confident in their clothes.
“I feel like I've never met somebody who has been like, ‘I love shopping for jeans, putting jeans on. They're so easy to look for and find, and they fit great every time,’” Durand said. “My biggest commitment is making people feel good about themselves.”
Her love for fashion and sewing started young, and she learned how to sew from her great grandmother when she was a little girl.
“My great grandmother came here from Italy in the '60s, and she used to make all of her own clothes and all of her kids' clothes,” Durand said. “I was 11 when I wanted to start making my own clothes. She taught me how to sew on an old Bernina sewing machine.”
Even back then, what Durand wanted to make was jeans — skinny jeans in particular — to fit in with the style of the early 2000s.
LEFT: Kelly Durand, owner of Desert Denim Company, works on a pair of jeans inside her Tucson shop. Durand sells vintage Levi’s jeans, repairs jeans and does tailoring.
Over her career, she spent years touring and tailoring clothing for bands on the road, including high profile headliners like Toto.
“I used to do a lot of stuff for music videos and commercials, anything you would need tailoring for,” Duran said.
She eventually settled in Tucson, and started her business a little over two years ago, selling her tailored denim out of her home. Since then, demand for her jeans has grown exponentially, and last month she was able to upgrade from her first brick and mortar shop into a new, larger space in the 5 Points neighborhood, which allowed her to finally combine her workshop and retail space.
Kelly Durand’s son, Wesley, plays inside her shop, Desert Denim Company, located at 834 S. Sixth Ave.
But why vintage Levi’s? Well, according to Durand, it’s all about the consistency in the product.
“Levi's are, in my opinion, the most consistently made (quality wise). From like 1920 all the way up to now,” she said. “I've always tailored jeans for myself and I always loved vintage Levi's. I have a pair of vintage Levi's shorts that I still wear. I was 19 when I bought them and now I'm almost 35.”
Gabby Smoyer, one of Durand’s return customer, said she came across the Desert Denim Company online and was immediately intrigued by Durand’s work.
“Actually the thought of having someone in Tucson that was doing professional denim tailoring just kind of blew my mind,” she said. “I was kind of taken aback by that. I was like, ‘oh, cool, this is amazing.’”
Smoyer’s own closet consists primarily of vintage denim, and she said she often needs tailoring and repairs for her pieces.
“I have a lot of pairs that either are expensive pairs or they're a lot older and need repairs and just need to be handled or repaired in a professional manner,” Smoyer said.
She praised the elevated personal shopping experience Durand’s shop provides, as well as her attention to every step of the process.
“She's just really, really amazing at creating your dream jeans,” Smoyer said.
ABOVE: A pile of vintage Levi’s jeans sits in a stack inside Kelly Durand’s shop, Desert Denim Company. LEFT: Kelly Durand, owner of Desert Denim Company, works on a pair of jeans inside her Tucson shop. Durand sells vintage Levi’s jeans, repairs jeans and does tailoring.
Currently, Durand offers appointments for about six fittings a week, and customers connect with her through her Instagram account, @desertdenimcompany, to book one of the personalized fittings.
During the fittings, customers work with Durand to determine which jeans in her collection will fit best, based on their body type and measurements.
“Once we find a pair that they like, I show them exactly how it would look tailored,” Durand said. “I use pins, I use carpenters' clamps, all kinds of different stuff. You can walk around the shop and feel what it would be like for your jeans to be altered.”
After four or five weeks, the jeans are ready for pickup. The price of a pair of Durand’s jeans depends heavily on the alterations that are made, but most pairs average between $75 and $200 before modifications. A hem alteration, for example, would be an additional $45, a back center seam alteration $60.
Durand will also tailor your own jeans, from any brand, as long as they are 100% cotton.
Because she sells only vintage items, Durand said her jeans are a sustainable alternative to mass-produced denim sold in retail stores.
This conscientious reuse of pre-owned items is an important part of her business model, she said, and she sources her jeans largely from wholesalers and local pickers.
“Sometimes I meet somebody's uncle, and he has like 50 pairs of 501s in his garage,” she said.
Vintage Levi’s jeans hang inside Kelly Durand’s Tucson shop, Desert Denim Company.
By focusing on restoring vintage items, Durand is helping eliminate more consumer waste in the fashion industry.
“Fast fashion is such a bummer,” she said. “I worked in the fashion world in Los Angeles and entertainment for a long time. The waste is insane.”
Instead of selling new denim, Durand breathes new life into discarded items that would have otherwise ended up in the trash or passed over at the thrift store.
“I'm taking jeans that have imperfections. I'm cleaning them, I'm professionally steaming them, I'm removing any ancient bacteria.”
She also repairs any damage or wear to the items. The results are timeless closet staples that will outlast trends.
“The commitment to an item is really big for my business. It's closing that loop where you're constantly looking for that perfect pair of jeans,” Durand said. “You can go to Abercrombie and get a pair of jeans on sale for 50 bucks. When those jeans stretch out, you just throw them in the trash, right? But if you buy a pair of jeans that cost you $100 and you really like them, you are going to commit to taking care of them. You're going to commit to repairing them.”
That is the essence of Durand’s philosophy.
“I think the most sustainable thing that anybody can do in terms of their own personal style and fashion, is really be confident and feel good about your personal style,” she said. “Because then you want to keep all of your clothes and take good care of them.”