As an avid urban cyclist, Gary Lenett could never quite find the perfect pair of pants; he searched everywhere for a pair of multipurpose pants that he could cycle to work in and wear throughout the day at the office. Spandex, he quips, was not an option.
Gary, whose own father was a jean supplier and grandfather a tailor, founded Dish Jeans in Vancouver in 2001. The company had its own line of jeans and also manufactured denim for retailers such as Levi’s, Gap, Nordstrom, Banana Republic, Ralph Lauren, Nike, Guess Jeans and Harley Davidson, among others.
After years of creating fashion-wear jeans, Gary grew tired of the work and was almost ready to quit industry. One day, however, he had an ah-ha moment: what if he could create high-performance denim that looked and felt great? "Once we started working on athletic jean wear, I felt rejuvenated and excited,” he recalls.
