Founded as the Dehen Knitting Company by William Peter Dehen in 1920, Dehen 1920 produces classic U.S. outerwear. Its tradition is steeped in crafting heavyweight apparel, including varsity and collegiate sweaters and jackets. Family-owned and dedicated to producing all garments through its Northeast Portland factory, Dehen recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of its first public-facing storefront.
Jim Artaiz (left) and Peter Lee (right)
We met Jim Artaiz, owner and President of Dehen 1920, and Peter Lee, the company’s Brand Manager, at Dehen’s factory and storefront near Laurelhurst Park in Northeast Portland.
What do you feel sets Dehen’s production process apart from other brands?
Lee: We make clothes here in Portland, Oregon, and we’ve been doing it for a hundred years. So we’re knitting, cutting and sewing our sweaters from yarn that enters the building on spools. We load the yarn on machines and knit it into fabric, cut it into sweaters, and then send it out the door as a completed garment. All that happens under one roof, which is pretty special. We make really quality, really heavy, really nice outerwear.
Artaiz: Many manufacturers would look at our pieces and say that we’re spending too much money on the yarn, on putting that much material into each piece. We look at it in quite the opposite way. How do we make something that’s going to last a lifetime? You only buy it once, so it becomes more sustainable.
Lee: We couldn’t be further from fast fashion. We are building things to be passed down from generation to generation.
For something produced in such a hyper-local way, you’ve nevertheless sold your clothes all over the world. Can you talk a bit about your international market and where you’re hoping Dehen will reach next?
Lee: We work with stores worldwide. Stores in Berlin, Tokyo, Hanzhou, China, Paris, Switzerland, all across Germany, all throughout the United States: New York, Chicago, Indianapolis, San Francisco. We’ve got about between 70 and 80 different stores that we work with. Most of our wholesale accounts are one-store boutiques. We don’t really work with the big box stores. It’s just not really right for our business model, both for our capacity and what we can produce, as well as who we like to work with and how we like to work.
Ironically, though, because our factory has been so tucked away in this neighborhood, sometimes even lifelong Portlanders don’t know we’re here! So we want to continue to share our brand and get our name out there, because we feel that we should really be a Portland staple. We’ve been here for over a century and we continue to do things that we’ve been doing the entire time. We’re kind of the best-kept secret in town.
That local awareness will certainly be helped by your new storefront. Can you tell us a bit about how it came to be?
Lee: The tenant immediately next door to us moved to a different part of the building. So we took that space over and a year ago we opened our retail store. Because we make everything here, because we keep all of our inventory here, anything that would be available on our website is now available in person. There’s windows into the factory floor as you’re shopping around. We joke that it’s like the Tillamook cheese factory window of sweaters.
How do you feel Portland has influenced your work? How is Dehen a “Portland” brand?
Lee: We’re a direct reflection of the community. All of us live and work here. We can’t help but be directly influenced by the last century of living and working here in Portland. The climate, the people, the work ethic and the materials we use are all a reflection of Portland, Oregon.
Weather-wise, the clothes we make are very suited to the Portland climate. As we start rolling into fall, we in the building are excited for what we call “Dehen season” to finally get here. In working with different stores around the world, there is an invisible line that if you go too far south or too far to the equator, it’s a little too warm for our sweaters. So Portland is very suited for what we make, and really, so much of what we make for is intended to be worn in Portland and in this climate.
What fellow Portland A&O companies do you find particularly interesting or inspiring?
Lee: Portland is a small city, so it’s always fun to see friends of ours get well deserved attention for the great work that they do! Snow Peak, Danner, PGF & Bimma Williams are all friends that we’ve worked with in various capacities.
“We couldn’t be further from fast fashion. We are building things to be passed down from generation to generation.”
—Peter Lee, Brand Manager, Dehen 1920
What advice would you give someone looking to start working in the Portland A&O industry?
Lee: There’s so many options in Portland in such a wide range of categories. We’re very fortunate to have so many resources around A&O. Keep an open mind, learn as much as you can and say yes to opportunities even if they’re outside your comfort zone. Portland is a great place to create and we’re all on the same team. Let’s continue to promote Portland and each other to the world.
What does the future look like for Dehen? Will the company continue to be family-owned?
Artaiz: One of my kids is interested in the business. We plan on keeping it going for as long as we can! And with our younger staff and Peter leading the way, we’ve really opened some doors, opened some windows out there these past five years.
What could the Portland A&O community do to support you?
Lee: Please help us share our story and our brand with Portland. We’ve been here for over 100 years, but meet lifelong Portlanders every day that have never heard of us before! Come to our storefront and take the opportunity to experience the clothes and see how they’re made.
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