Meet the Bond Trader Turned Retailer Making Denim into Chicago's Fashion Calling Card - Vogue.com

Even as a born-and-bred Chicagoan, this writer can admit that her beloved city is lacking when it comes to fashion. Physically set between America’s stylish opposite coasts, Chicago literally sits on the middle of the sartorial spectrum when it comes to retail: You’ve got the big-box shops and department stores on Michigan Avenue (our version of Fifth Avenue), or you’ve got a small number of independent boutiques that cater to a super-wealthy clientele or to the hipsters occupying the city’s newly gentrified neighborhoods. But in a relatively dead retail zone and an even more dormant local manufacturing industry, there’s opportunity to fill the void. Two years ago, Rob McMillan left his job as a bond trader at the Chicago Stock Exchange to do just that. After realizing how difficult it was to find a perfectly fitting pair of jeans at a reasonable price, McMillan decided to launch Dearborn Denim, a made-to-measure, direct-to-consumer denim company. All of the jeans sold online and in its recently opened brick-and-mortar store in the Obama family’s old neighborhood of Hyde Park are under $100 (some as low as $45) and made with fine denim from one of the oldest mills in America located in West Texas.

Customers can visit Dearborn Denim’s factory in Garfield Park and get a tour of the jean-making process from start to finish, a rare luxury in an age where few clothing labels are stamped with “Made in the U.S.A.” “Only about 2 percent of what is sold here is made here,” McMillan explains. “Part of what got me so excited to try this experiment was that almost all of the literature out there says that apparel manufacturing in the States is too expensive to be viable. I took a hard look at the industry and decided that wasn’t the case—I like to be a contrarian, I guess.” Intent on creating American jobs and paying higher wages, McMillan also hired local seamstresses and tailors and pays his employees $15 an hour for sewing—a much higher amount than many other apparel companies in the U.S. “We price the jeans low because we can,” McMillan says. “I’m not about exclusivity and I want our product to be as affordable as possible, to be as inclusive as possible.” He adds, “Don’t confuse price with quality. Our fabric is the best of the best in terms of stretch denims, and our construction is strong. We just don’t operate on an 80-percent margin, sometimes more, to inflate the price to our customers.”

Speaking to McMillan about his upstart company, it’s clear he’s not a designer by any means but instead, a savvy, practical businessman with a huge heart. He has a team of designers (all local Chicagoans), and often consults his wife when creating a new cut or wash for the women’s line. Dearborn Denim currently offers black high-rise skinny jeans, a straight-leg dark wash, and a skinny high-rise medium wash. Soon it’ll launch a boyfriend-fit for women. Every pair of jeans can be tailored to the customer’s measurements and each comes stitched with Dearborn’s down-home label: a single star to represent the city flag of Chicago.

Though the company and McMillian’s aesthetic is certainly more practical and simplistic than most denim labels making the big bucks right now, he’s already attracting a sartorially savvy clientele. In fact, McMillan has received the seal of approval from Chicago’s grand dame of high fashion, Ikram Goldman—she told Vogue editors that she was a big fan of the jeans and their tremendous fit. Despite the endorsement, don’t expect to see Dearborn Denim on any It-girl Instagrams or celebrities anytime soon. McMillan wants to grow the business slowly, organically, and with as much integrity as possible. As he explains, “We haven’t done a lot of influencer marketing and we don’t have deep pockets for endorsement deals.” However, that doesn’t mean he isn’t thinking of the ultimate dream customer: “When I first opened up shop, I wrote a letter to Michelle Obama, First Lady of Chicago and Hyde Park local, but I haven’t heard back yet. If you are reading this, [Mrs. Obama], stop by the store and try on a pair!”

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