The West is Dead at What Goes Around Comes Around
Will Cheng (pictured left) and Kaelen McCrane (right) are very normal guys. “I love looking at this stuff,” said Will of the rare loud vintage for sale at What Goes Around Comes Around on March 13, where they showed their line, The West is Dead. “But I don’t know if I could pull it off.” Pause. “I just saw a one piece denim jumpsuit walk by.” Leave it to the vintage connoisseurs to impart the suede fringe cowboy jackets and denim overalls showpieces, The West is Dead has the everyday knit henleys, perfect crew neck slubby sweaters and chinos for regular dudes and in between. The friends met in Montana, where Kaelen was working as a wilderness tour guide and sleeping on a bunk bed in a converted horse stall. Will was really into fly-fishing (which is all about “form,” “finesse” and deep ecological intelligence about the rivers. “It’s not like you put some bait on and sit in a lawn chair and drink a Pabst. Its more involved”). His bed was built inside half of a bus parked on a friend’s field. Their outdoor-loving lifestyle can be seen in the ease of the clothing. “I don’t want to say workwear, because its not workwear. We design pieces we want to wear. It’s all very simple stuff,” Kaelen said. Will said the construction details were more military-influenced, “Military garments are made in an interesting way. It’s very simple and practical.”
Gerard Maione of What Goes Around Comes Around curated a selection of rare vintage workwear that matched the vibe of The West is Dead. Will and Kaelen supplied the vintage ladder racking rig.
Subtlety. Railroad stripes on a light overlayer jacket.
As seen on the hangtags, The West Is Dead works with the Buffalo Council’s efforts to repopulate native lands with buffalo that are in danger of extinction.
