A few years ago on a trip to Seattle (before this blog was around) I stopped into the Filson flagship shop in downtown Seattle to look around and pick up something from one of America’s most rugged outfitters. I grew-up obsessing over Filson bags in Ohio via the outfitter’s ubiquitous catalogs. At one point my mother banned me from including Filson bags on my Christmas list because I had amassed an arsenal that made my bedroom look like a Filson flagship store.

If you have ever touched anything from Filson, you know that the stuff is basically indestructible. They call that quality being “over built”, which seems to be something Americans love. A lot of the bags I have had over the years are literally just now coming into their own — what I mean is, they are just now getting to the wear-point of looking partially broken-in. It’s not that Filson stuff stands the test of time, it literally drags time down by aging so slowly.

A briefcase from Filson’s new Harris Tweed collection. Awesome stuff here people.

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I’m late to the party. I admit it. I don’t get to Seattle much – actually I have only been one time. While I was there, (on a weekend business trip) I tried to get to know the city as well as I could. Somehow I did manage to find a lot of cool restaurants and shops. One glaring thing I missed was the men’s store Blackbird. Located in the Ballard section of the city, Blackbird is not what you expect for a men’s store in the Pacific Northwest. These guys are smart, very smart. The store is more akin to something you would find off of the L Train. They know good brands and they carry good brands. To quote my friend Paul, “they are on point.”

A edited selection of the Blackbird stocklist:

A.P.C., Band of Outsiders, BBlessing, Comme Des Garcons, Filippa K, Gilded Age, Kasil, Lova (These guys were the standout brand from Project Las Vegas in August 07 – very cool brand), Nom De Guerre, Obedient Sons, Obey, Rag & Bone, Robert Geller, RVCA, Shipley & Halmos, Steven Alan, Surface to Air and Unis.

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