monologue cinema

原文來自lifeiscarbon®

Cheap Monday jeans have become almost ubiquitous among young Swedes thanks to their tight cut, low price, and perhaps in part because of the anti-establishment statement made by the brand’s logo; a skull with an inverted crucifix on its forehead.

An Associated Press article from last December claims that while the makers of Cheap Monday don't "take the logo so seriously," logo designer Bjorn Atldax does; he told the AP that he disdains organized religion and that his design is "an active statement against Christianity." Atldax insists his graphic designs have a purpose beyond selling denim: to make young people question Christianity, a "force of evil" that he blames for sparking wars throughout history.

Swedish designer Orjan Andersson spent many years at Lee before leaving to start his own cult brand. Cheap Monday began as something of a cottage industry. Only a couple of years ago, Örjan Andersson was on his knees on the floor of the small warehouse space in the back of his store (Weekday), hand printing his own shirts and jeans (something he still does). Indeed, the jeans and clothes from Cheap Monday are still homemade, the difference being that today they sell in large numbers, challenge the most trendy brands in the jeans business and have even been nominated "best jeans design" by Elle magazine.

While the craze for designer jeans might date back to the late 70's, the prices now paid certainly bear no relation to that era. The price paid today for a ‘currently acceptable designer’ brand is anywhere between $140 to $250. Every year brings a flood of companies selling new denim brands (True Religion, Rock & Republic, Nudie, Rogan, Acne), and yet the increased competition never drives down prices. Paying out more than $100 for a pair of jeans has become the norm, and fledgling companies seem only too willing to perpetuate the pricing policy.

Will Orjan Andersson change all that? In an interview on his website, Andersson claims he isn't opposed to pricey denim—he carries several expensive labels in his store—but he does say that he "noticed that there was not a single decent brand that made cheaper jeans." He's right and it’s worth remembering that denim wasn't ever supposed to be expensive. It was, after all, introduced in the late 19th century as utilitarian work wear. Perhaps Cheap Monday will in some way help denim return to its roots.

感謝Cheap Monday的緊身剪裁與低價，他們的牛仔褲幾乎成為瑞典年輕人的必備品，也許有一部分的原因是因為他們廠牌標誌而來的反種族歧視宣言，這個標誌是一個骷髏頭，額頭上有著倒反的十字架。

去年十二月，Associated Press的一份文章批評Cheap Monday的創造者不把這個標誌當作非常嚴肅，但事實並非如此，標誌的設計者Bjorn Atldax告訴AP，他輕視那些有組織的宗教，並且，他的標誌是份反對基督教的主動宣言，Atldax堅持他的圖樣設計在賣牛仔褲之外，是有目的：讓年輕人質疑基督教，他認為是一種邪惡力量並且在歷史中散佈戰爭。

瑞典設計師Örjan Andersson在Lee工作許多年，之後離開Lee開始了自己的奇異品牌，Cheap Monday從家庭手工業開始。幾年後，Örjan Andersson跪坐在自己的商店（Weekday）後的小倉庫地板上，用手繪製自己的上衣與牛仔褲（有些他依然會這樣做），的確，這些從Cheap Monday出來的牛仔褲與衣服依舊是家庭製的，不同的是，在今日，他們賣出龐大的數量，挑戰大多數在牛仔褲工業的潮流品牌，並且被Elle雜誌提名為最佳牛仔褲設計。

這股追求設計師牛仔褲的熱潮可以追溯回70年代的晚期，到目前的價格已經無法與當時相比，現在要買一條普通可以接受的設計師品牌的牛仔褲大約是美金140~250的價位，而每年都有一大堆公司販售新的牛仔褲品牌 (True Religion, Rock & Republic, Nudie, Rogan, Acne)，但是價位卻從未下降，花費超過一百美金買一條牛仔褲成為標準，而新的公司似乎也只能接受這樣的價格政策。

Örjan Andersson會改變這一切嗎？在他網站上的一篇專訪中，Andersson說他並不反對高價的牛仔褲，他在自己的店裡也有販賣數個高價品牌的牛仔褲，但他說他注意到在市場中沒有任何一個合適的品牌提供便宜的牛仔褲，他的說法是正確的並且讓人想起牛仔褲並不是被想像得如此昂貴，畢竟，在19世紀末期牛仔褲被發明時，它只是被當作工作服，也許Cheap Monday在某些方面將會幫助牛仔褲重返它的根源。