AVANT magazine - Stifel: The American Blue Dream

We are proud to be a UK stockist of AVANT magazine; a series of journals exploring the history and origins of workwear. With in-depth essays and interviews with collectors and historians, AVANT presents valuable research into clothing that was traditionally overlooked.

This listing is for a copy of Stifel: The American Blue Dream

After five anthologies dedicated to workwear, military and western wear, AVANT devotes its sixth issue to the brand that makes collectors the world over dream: Stifel.

In this book, the first ever published on Stifel, we tell you about the life and legacy of the Stifel family, who for over 100 years produced the finest calico fabrics in the United States.

Today, workwear made with Stifel wabash fabrics is considered the Holy Grail. These blue fabrics with white polka dots, stamped with the boot symbol, fetch a premium on the vintage clothing market. Why are they so fascinating? Why have they become so valuable?

We tried to answer these questions by interviewing all those who are fascinated by Stifel in one way or another: collectors, historians, fabric specialists, vintage dealers, and even the descendants of the Stifel family.

We spoke to Joan Stamp, great-granddaughter of company founder Johann Ludwig Stifel, as well as historians Dave Javersak and Terry Terrell, collectors Bryan Shettig, Takeshi Watanabe, Akira Tsuchida, Bryan Lin, Kinji Teramoto and many others.

Even Mike Wolf, star host of the TV show American Pickers, who himself owns a rare pair of Stifel overalls, gave us his opinion on this brand.

Every page of this book makes us realize just how much the will of one man, who left home to pursue his dream, changed the destiny of an entire family, an entire industry, and continues to have an impact almost two centuries later.