The mastermind behind the jeans company PRPS is Donwan Harrell. He is a man of many talents. We first met in the summer when I went to shoot him and his friends at a garage somewhere in New Jersey where he keeps his collection of American muscle cars.

We got to talking and I found out that he also has an extraordinary collection of Levi jeans, some dating from the beginning of the last century.  He has a friend  that ‘mines’ them – yes he literally digs them out of an old gold mine somewhere out West. Donwan knows the provenance of every detail, rivet and stitch. No wonder his own collection of jeans is so cool – it is based on history and perfection.

In his midtown show room he lets me see a project he is working on – he is drawing freehand directly on to Vietnam issue M65 jackets that were worn by American military during the Vietnam war – beautiful and disturbing images of war – soldiers, mothers with children helicopters, guns. One of the jackets was worn by his friend Will (below) who was in the Marines – very powerful stuff. Donwan is an artist.