Nine Days

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  Nine Days The Axel Jean in Jagger Fit
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  Nine Days The Buzzcock Fit Axel Jean in Dark Rinse
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  Nine Days The Ramone Fit Axel Jean in Dark Rinse

Donwan Harrell's Nine Days jeans

There is no doubt that jeans are a basic staple of American fashion. Everyone has a pair. So how does a top designer do jeans that stand out in an already crowded market? Donwan Harrell is already well known as the talented fashion force behind Akademiks and PRPS, a luxury denim line. Soon, though, he’ll add another jewel to the crown when his latest endeavor, Nine Days, breaks out a line of jeans that is sure to generate more industry talk.

Harrell is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Fashion Design program. As a member of the school’s advisory board, he received the VCUarts Alumni Star Award in 2008. He began his career with some of the best-known brands in the business, such as Nike and Donna Karan. In 1999, he launched his own brand of streetwear, Akademiks Jeanius Level Products, founded on a “pursuit of truth” principle. Influenced almost entirely by the music of pop culture, Akademiks was one of the first brands with the innovative spirit to focus exclusively on hip-hop urban wear. By 2003, the success of Akademiks led to the development of PRPS, which debuted as a “product with a purpose.”

Donwan Harrell

Now, ten years after the inception of his first brand, Harrell is celebrating the anniversary of Akademics by taking his style philosophy of the past to the next level with the launch of Nine Days. As is typical of Harrell, the message is in the name, and the name has a story behind it.

In 1730, the ship, Little George, carried 96 captives to be sold into slavery in Rhode Island. Several days into the journey, the prisoners successfully revolted en masse against the ship’s crew and, turning the tables, imprisoned them within their own ship. The ship’s course was reversed, returning the rebel slaves back to the home from where they were abducted. The event took nine days, from start to finish. Harrell’s new Nine Days brand is named in honor of that same rebel spirit that rises up against enslavement.

Nine Days for Men

As with the PRPS line, Nine Days is bursting into the fashion world with denim as its muse. The premiere collection of jeans easily hits the mark, as it aims for fine quality and exceptional fit. Each style in this first collection of jeans is named for a band that influenced the musical landscape of the 80s. For example the ultra-skinny five-pocket jeans has a feel that is distinctly reminiscent of their “Ramones”; and fans of the extreme straight “Headbanger” style will be more than a little rocked by the bleached black “Clash” color rinse.

How can such noble aspirations be contained in a pair of jeans? It can’t. The near future will be bringing more of the Nine Days style to a leather jacket collection, as well as tees that pay homage to some of the more recent legends of American alternative rock. If the line follows in the footsteps of its sister brands, it’s sure to be seen soon worn by the same A-list celebrities regularly seen wearing PRPS, such as Brad Pitt and David Beckham.

Only someone who truly loves denim can transform it into a perfect blend of 70s counterculture and 80s notoriety. The result is a style that validates the power of the individual to rise above conformity and celebrate personal freedom.