Tellason is an American selvedge denim brand founded at the end of 2008 by Tony Patella and Pete Searson in San Francisco — the city Levi Strauss chose in 1853 when he invented the riveted jean, and whose remaining fragment of denim manufacturing heritage gave Tellason its factory, its fabric connections, and its deepest motivation. The brand name is a portmanteau of their surnames (paTELLA + seARSON). Their first product was a single pair of jeans — a slim straight in 13.25oz Cone Mills White Oak selvedge. They made 240 pairs, sold them to Northern California and Pacific Northwest retailers by making store owners try the jeans on in the room, and immediately sold all 240. Then 240 more. The formula has not changed since: made in San Francisco, American selvedge denim, no frills, no fads. “Get dressed and move on.”
Key Facts
- Founded: 2008 (first products shipped 2009)
- Founders: Tony Patella and Pete Searson (both from California; met after graduating from San Diego State University in 1990)
- Headquarters: San Francisco, California, USA
- Production: Cut and sewn in San Francisco since day one; 95%+ from a single SF factory
- Industry: American Selvedge Denim, Heritage Menswear
History
Patella and Searson met after graduating from San Diego State University in 1990, bonding over punk music and California denim culture. Patella had spent the 1990s working with Bay Area denim legend Cliff Abbey on a vintage-inspired brand called Sutter’s Denim, through which he developed the Cone Mills White Oak relationships and San Francisco factory contacts that would seed Tellason. Searson built a career in international action sports sales. At the end of 2008, in the depths of the Great Recession, they decided it was the perfect time to start a denim brand — the logic being that every bad piece of business they were seeing was something Tellason could simply not be.
Tellason’s primary denim supplier was Cone Denim’s White Oak plant in Greensboro, North Carolina — the last American producer of selvedge denim on traditional wooden Draper shuttle looms. When Cone announced White Oak’s closure in late 2017, Patella and Searson were informed they were Cone’s fourth-largest overall denim customer. They stockpiled enough fabric to carry them through 2019. Today Tellason sources selvedge denim from both Kaihara in Japan and remaining domestic Cone production, continuing to cut and sew everything in San Francisco. 70% of sales are now international, with strong markets in the UK, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, and Australia.
Philosophy and Products
Tellason’s philosophy is stated with deliberate understatement: “We believe style comes through best on people that don’t work at it.” The brand produces five-pocket jeans in multiple fits and weights (12.5oz to 16oz selvedge denim), denim jackets (the Coverall), chambray work shirts, chinos in Carlisle twill from South Carolina, and sweaters. All hardware — buttons, rivets — is sourced from Galilean suppliers; leather patches from Tanner Goods. There are no brand logos on the outside of the garment.
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