The idiom "as rare as hen's teeth" has its roots in the works of 17th century English writer Thomas Brown. The idiom became popular in the 19th century, but the meaning still holds. Finding the brand that this writeup is about is as rare as finding hen's teeth. No, seriously.
You wouldn't know of the Hen's Teeth clothing brand, unless someone specifically told you about it. And to find the brand, you would have to be just as specifically look for it: Pescara on the Abruzzo coastline in central Italy.
The Hen's Teeth brand is that of Davide Biondi, and is the marked expression of one man's work alone. But it is not that the brand is hard to find—after all, in today's world you can virtually trace anything. What's rare is the quintessential brand offering: a clutch of timeless pieces that can be slipped effortlessly into a single bag. That's all one needs.
The genesis of this offering goes back in a young boy growing up by the Adriatic Sea. "I was born and live in a small town on the Abruzzo coast—Pescara. Since I was a boy, I always had a great passion for art in all its forms and clothing, of any style and from any provenance."
Davide grew up rummaging through his father's old clothes. Among them was a pair of Roy Roger's jeans worn out by the tilling of the land. All that he found were not important just because they belonged to his father, but also because they embodied a "lived" experience. The other thing was an old Moto Guzzi down in the cellar. It was dilapidated, but straddling it sent the boy's imagination soaring in the Adriatic breeze.
It was a sense of timelessness that remained in his ethos as Davide grew through the arts. "I studied graphic arts for many years and painting in a craft workshop learning the origins of painting and drawing. In parallel, I collected pieces of clothing and above all jeans. I liked seeing the evolution that this piece of clothing had over time and in wear, it’s telling the story of who wore it with its rips and nuances."
Davide lived in California for a year, "living" literally with his painting exhibitions. "This experience has heavily marked and influenced me in my individual and artistic growth.
"After many years with a large clothing company in Italy and many collaborations, I decided to put into my Hen’s Teeth project all my experience in the clothing industry and produce authentic clothing inspired by history, timeless fashions and the best manufacturing processes— because these are our true origins."
It is, needless to say, immensely personal. "Hen's teeth was born from a need of mine. I almost always dress the same way, with jeans and a sweatshirt. I wanted to make the best jeans and the best sweatshirt for myself. And, once they had been made, I understood that a brand was born—Hen's Teeth was born and I had to enclose that way of dressing, that way of being in a bag, creating a kit. Anyone could dress as I like, everything you need is inside a bag."
The Hen’s Teeth was minimalist and rare: a pair of jeans, a sweatshirt, a bandana, and a pair of socks. A biker's dream, as it were.
