Shawn Jones

BlackStar Denim was inspired from the history of Black Star Line a shipping line incorporated by Marcus Garvey, organizer of the (UNIA). The shipping line was supposed to facilitate the transportation of goods and eventually African Americans throughout the African global economy. It derived its name from the White Star Line, a line whose success Garvey felt he could duplicate, which would become a standard of his Back-to-Africa movement.

Shawn D. Jones & Josette L Breazell-Jones, husband and wife designers founded BlackStar Denim in 2008 with the intention of combined his love of tailoring, denim & street wear and her love of sewing, knitting and embroidery to produce a cultural and trendy line in the premium denim industry. Our vision was to remaining true to the Japanese artisan ideal "Wabi-sabi", loosely translated as, "elegant simplicity and subdued taste", which describes the foundation of what our jeans are based on which is techniques of design, finish and manufacturing.

We would like to put the roots back into Africa by creating an ECO friendly line around the spirit and movement for change in Africa. By using it’s natural resources to make jeans, jackets, coats, t-shirts, polos, skirts, hats, boots and knits made of natural cottons and hemps harvested in Africa and incorporate some of the tribal prints and designs into the clothing by combining tailoring, denim & street wear and sewing, knitting and embroidery to produce a cultural and trendy line made to exceed consumers’ expectations of denim apparel.

Our selvedge jeans are made from denim woven on old style shuttle looms in Japan. American and European manufacturers had abandoned this slower method for and more costly method 40 years ago in favor of faster, more efficient projectile looms.

However, denim woven on antique looms is much stronger and has unique qualities from the rich dark finishes that become more beautiful when you wear. We believe in jeans made the old fashion way!