What Goes Into The BILL BARN COAT

Every GINEW story starts somewhere real. This one starts with a leaf from the tree where we were married.

The GINEW leaf logo, stamped into the base of our original brass button, was cast from an actual leaf - one that fell from the white oak tree we were married under, on a small farm in the Wisconsin countryside. The original button also carries the marks "WI & TX," a nod to the two states we called home in GINEW's first year. It's a small piece of hardware. But like everything we make, it was never just hardware to us…there are big intentions behind it all.

Ginew is steeped in story and lore - rooted in the traditions of our tribes - Oneida, Stockbridge-Munsee, and Ojibwe - and hand-built for people who value authenticity over trend. Our ethos runs through purpose, planet, and people. And this year, that ethos took on a new form: an entire collection, up-cycled.

The design on the wool blanket liner itself is magic, created for GINEW by the living legend Dyani White Hawk - a family friend whose creativity we have had the privilege of watching bloom, from her earliest student exhibits to major installations around the world, including one at the Portland International Airport. Her work moves us, it always has…I remember standing, breathless looking at her paintings for the first time - concepts that tied traditional beliefs to both contemporary/modern and future Native thought. Years later it was an honor to have Dyani create the Facing East design. The team at Pendleton Woolen Mills brought her design to life in 32 oz un-napped wool, made exclusively for GINEW - we remain one of the only brands anywhere still lining garments in wool this heavy.

The denim tells its own romantic story. 14oz Japanese selvedge, custom woven for us by the artisan mill Nihon Menpu, whose textures and colors we fell for the moment we saw them at our first show in Japan. The sleeve lining is a custom satin, made only for GINEW to our exact specifications in an LA factory, finished with contrast stitching.

Then came the question that started it all: "Would you like us to dispose of the remaining fabrics?"

Absolutely not!

After the last few seasons, we found ourselves with a stockpile of these same rare, premium components - much more than we had expected. But disposing of them was never an option. These were not leftovers to us. They were pieces of a story we had already begun, and the idea of letting them go to waste mortified us. And it is time to see the story through.

So we brought the fabrics to Apparel Werks in Portland, Oregon - the perfect partner to turn these beloved and now rescued fabrics into finished coats. Each Bill Barn Coat is made-to-order, maximizing every yield and treating every build with the intention it deserves. Real people, real skill, real craft - nothing about this coat will be rushed or wasted.

The Bill Barn Coat is built to be worn in, for years to come, as you write your own story into every fade and crease you earn along the way. On the shank of the buttons, a leaf from a Wisconsin oak holding our origin story will be with you as you adventure along your journey.

Rare Components — Precision Built — Real Quality

Wear with Spirit, friends.