WP ARCHIVIO X DENIM HUNTER EVENT
WP Store, Via della Vignanuova 75/r, Firenze.
11/06/2024.
18:00-19:00 “Denim Hunter” documentary projection
19:00-21:30 denim exhibition and cocktails
About WP Archivio x Denim Hunter Event: The WP Store in Florence will feature an exhibition of 12 unique denims from Viktor Fredbäck’s private collection dating from the late 1800s to the 70s. Viktor and the film’s director Emilio di Stefano will be present in store to talk about the project and have a drink together.
A capsule collection dedicated to the collaboration will also be released in store. A bandana, a hiking backpack and an indigo-dyed llama wool blanket, all items inspired by the film’s expedition.
About WP Archivio: The historic archive of W.P. Lavori in Corso was created together with the company in 1982. Growing substantially in 1985, with the creation of the first W.P. concept store, inspired by typical Made in the US department stores.
From the first, our main locations for sourcing items were American trade fairs, like Magic, as well as the secondary circuits, such as second hand and vintage stores. Markets like the historic Garage Market on 25th Street in NYC or the Pasadena Flea Market always been a great source of inspiration. All of these research items began to implement WP Archivio together with housewares, books and accessories stored in our furniture warehouse. In the 2000s, we purchased the paper and garment archive of US-made brand, Spiewak, which includes items from the First World War, through to the 1990s. In 2011 we incorporated the historic archive of Baracuta with more than 500 items.
The Archive today is the result of endless, exciting research trips interlaced with historic company archive acquisitions.
About Denim Hunter Film: Viktor Fredbäck is an ordinary guy from Sweden, but with an odd and burning passion for old jeans. After fifteen years of collecting, he has an almost complete timeline of jeans, from the first Levi’s jeans from the 1870s to flared pants from the 70s. One hundred years of jeans history. But he is missing a pair, a pair from 1880. And you can’t find those jeans in a second-hand shop in Sweden, you have to dig for them in America. The film follows Viktor on his wild journey through the deserts of California and up the snow-capped Rocky Mountains of Colorado, where he hunts for denim treasures in dangerous abandoned gold mines from the 19th century. But the dangers lurk not only in the gold mines, but also in other collectors who want the jeans he’s after. Along the journey through the old American West, Viktor meets a series of unlikely characters, such as Indiana Jeans, Dynamite Dan, Cookie Monster and denim archaeologists Mike and Russ.
