Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Fashion & Style

On the Road – West America and Woolrich

Anthony DeWitt
By

We love ‘Made in America’ here at The Manual. What’s better than a brand creating American-made clothing and roadtripping to break it in. Jordan Hufnagel and James Crowe of adventure outfitter West America came together to build. Hufnagel a bicycle builder and motorcycle maker Crowe built their Portland-based shop that eventually grew into West America. They became so successful that they had back orders at least three years long. Now in collaboration with Woolrich the outdoor outfitter they are literally following the road to a new dream.

They decided to morph this success into a road trip any man would hop on. Hufnagel tells The Manual that they made the decision a few years back to stop taking orders and to complete what they had. They longed to rediscover what’s important to them. What better way than to take a badass motorcycle trip across two continents.

Recommended Videos

“That’s the really interesting part. We had been planning this trip for a couple years and we have completely funded this trip on our own,” Huffnagel said. “That’s an important part of the story. We wanted people to realize anybody can do it.”

Hufnagel and Crowe will journey from British Columbia down to Patagonia for more than a year on two custom built motorcycles (Crowe’s work of course). They will let the trip take them. There is no plan just a general direction—South. Clothing became a key element because they needed gear to brave the road  and the wilderness, while still looking presentable on city stops.

“It’s important that when we pull into a town we don’t look like storm troopers,” Hufnagel said.

Luckily these guys joined forces with all-American Woolrich, a company that built its name on outfitting early explores, still operating one of the oldest wool mills in the nation. Woolrich has begun to reach out to younger consumers with its ‘Made in USA’ clothing line coming out Fall 2013.

The company has helped West America put together a small clothing line specifically catering to their journey and will promote their travels through social media. West American and Woolrich’s outdoors fashion collaboration includes a motorcycle jacket, a poncho, a vest, a wool shirt and a hat. Both men have had considerable input on the design process of each item for the trip. To follow their Journey visit  (www.wearewestamerica.com) or Woolrich’s Instagram feed (@woolrichinc).

Topics
Anthony DeWitt
Anthony DeWitt
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony Dewitt is a newly aspiring writer in New York City. He also works as an marketing assistant for London-based gemstone…
New dial colors, slimmer design for IWC’s Portugieser watches
The IWC Portugieser Collection nods to its 1930s roots while bringing new details to the line
The IWC Hand-WOund Night and Day watch.

If you've been orbiting through the same collections of watches looking for that perfect addition to fill that something missing in your arsenal, stop your search. Swiss brand International Watch Company, known more appropriately to wearers and collectors as IWC Schaffhausen, has a heavenly lineup at this year's Watches and Wonders you've been waiting an eternity for. If unmatched caliber and exceptional craftsmanship — along with a touch of planetary elements — are a few things you look for in a luxury watch, the Portugieser Collection from IWC is the right fit for your wrist.
The IWC Portugieser collection

The collection throws it back to the Portugieser of the 1930s, where the design got its first inspiration from those gorgeous navigational watches on the deck of a ship. Keep that nautical theme in your head because each piece in the collection has celestial details as the star.

Read more
Ready for a comeback? PUMA’s Easy Rider is back
Easy Rider Sneakers

 

With many sneakers coming back in recent seasons, PUMA is getting ready to blow them all out of the water. Once again, one of the company’s staple sneaker designs is ready to grace shelves and give us the true retro sneaker. While still iconic and recognizable, there’s no doubt that PUMA’s Easy Rider sneaker was the beginning of a new era for the casual sneaker, and to many regarded as one of the first of its kind. 

Read more
This new Cartier watch tells time backwards
Turn back time with the new Santos
Cartier Rewind on wrist

Wristwatches may be distinctly masculine pieces of hardware now, thanks to some very popular people in pop culture and in our own history adopting them. British super spy James Bond, movie stars, and athletes are the people we look up to who wear watches that catch our eye. Soldiers, cops, firefighters, and first responders wear watches they trust to ensure they can save lives. Pilots and divers created an entire industry around watches specifically designed for their vocations. And the very first pilot's watch was none other than a Cartier watch.

Alberto Santos-Dumont was a pioneer in the flight world and was one of the first people on Earth to achieve air travel. He was a competitor of the Wright Brothers, and, depending on the source, he preceded them in flight. In any case, the French celebrity went to Louis Cartier, another pioneer of his craft, and procured a square timekeeper meant for the wrist. The Cartier Santos Dumont was born. Over a century later, Cartier attended Watches and Wonders and presented the newest in the line of Santos watches, one that reverses time.
The Rewind tells time backwards

Read more