After some anxious nail-biting about missing our connection flight from Memphis to LA (we forgot that Memphis is on central time and thought we had ten minutes to catch our flight when we really had an hour and ten minutes), we finally got into LA late last night. Today, we got straight to work, meeting with the guys at Stronghold Jeans in Venice. We came across the shop last time we were in town and immediately fell in love with both the aesthetics of the store (built under a former boxing club and saloon) and the tough look and feel of the selvedge denim. Our appreciation only grew today once we sat down and found out the story behind the brand. I can’t wait till you read about the guys in our next issue and see just how authentic this brand really is…right down to the very last stitch.

After the shoot, Mike and Mike from Stronghold took us around Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, pointing out some cool shops and introducing us to some cool people. We ended up having wine with legendary photography Philip Dixon (famous for his work in Harper’s Bazaar), sharing training tips with UFC champ Anderson Silva’s gym owner and trading numbers with Incubus lead singer Brandon Boyd, who we hope to get a chance to interview later on this week. If that sounds like a crazy day, just wait until you see the photos. You didn’t think we’d leave our camera behind did you?