Blackbird launches Sunset Hotel jeans, part of its new collection for fashion-forward guys

When men's boutique Blackbird arrived in Seattle in 2004, it made news because it was one of the first contemporary retail stores in the city devoted to fashion-forward styles for men. Now the groundbreaking boutique, which originally opened in Fremont but later moved to Ballard, is making news again, with its own line of apparel and accessories.

The collection's inaugural products are a pair of slim, black jeans with a historic moniker and an urbane leather journal that begs to travel.

The Sunset Hotel jeans are named for the former resident of the boutique's Ballard storefront, which purportedly housed transient sailors, heroin addicts and prostitutes before it burned down in May 2000.

Priced at $165 -- no doubt, considerably higher than a night at the Sunset -- the jeans are more affordable than comparable designer denim but no less appealing. Sales associate Leo Gebhart calls them "slim without being skinny" and says they're selling well because nearly everyone can wear them.

"They come with just a slight amount of stretch, so they accommodate all body types," he says. The jeans are available in sizes 28 through 36, and Blackbird suggests you size down to allow for about a half-size stretch.

The matte black, wax-finished fabric comes from Cone Denim, a renowned supplier of denim in North Carolina, and the jeans are made in the United States. They are refreshingly devoid of embellishment, except for four etched rivets in the front pockets and a speaker symbol on the buttons.

Blackbird owner Nicole Miller chose black for the shop's first pair of jeans for two reasons. "We are Blackbird, so they had to be black," she says. "And every guy has at least four pairs of blue jeans in his wardrobe, but he doesn't have a black pair. Black jeans are great for going out on the town. They're very clean, but still relaxed. They really are our dream jean."

The 13-month Blackbird journal is also made in the United States, of beautiful brompton leather (produced in Italy from English bull hides). Particularly handy for travelers are the included maps of major metropolises.

If you stop in to check out Blackbird's new collection, be sure to offer your belated congratulations to owner Nicole Miller -- the boutique made news again last November when it was named by men's magazine DNR as one of the 50 most influential men's stores in America.

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