There's nothing new about a working-class denim company putting out a line of high-end jeans. Brands like Lee–normally associated with the Mark's Work Wearhouse set–have enjoyed recent success with premium European collections. But for some mid-luxury labels, slapping Euro on the tab is not enough of a distinction. They want to distance their pricier goods from their cheaper products by giving them a totally different name. Which is exactly what Silver Jeans president Michael Silver did with his now three-year-old label, 1921.

"Originally we called it SJ1921," says Silver, calling from his Winnipeg home. "but…one of my sales representatives in L.A. was like, 'Can we take the SJ off and just sell them as 1921s?'" With that, the 16-year-old company started a sister label. Retailers in the States embraced the idea of a cool little Canadian company with an old-school manufacturing ethos. It was domestic retailers who turned their noses up at the Manitoba-based brand.

"They just went, 'These are just from those Canadian guys from Winnipeg who make mall jeans.' So Canada was a slower sell at the beginning. Whereas sales in Europe, Japan, and the U.S.–L.A. in particular–were great pretty much right away."

One of the reasons 1921s have gained so much respect is that the busted side seams on the waistband scoop in and smooth out love handles, so even women with hips can wear the stretchy straight-legs ($180) or the wrinkle-finished, cowboy skinnies ($180; see below). For antitrenders, 1921 also offers classic dark flares ($173).

Another reason people are so drawn to 1921s–available in several stores in Vancouver, including Below the Belt (1131 Robson Street), Off the Wall (various locations), and Cattiva (2665 Granville Street)–is the quality of the formfitting Japanese-made fabric, a feature that caught the eye of a former Rock & Republic designer, none other than Victoria Beckham.

"She was shopping in an L.A. store," Silver explains, "and she just simply said [to the owner], 'Who makes these jeans? I need to speak to this person.' So I got a call from my VP in New York, and he said, 'Michael, you're not going to believe this, but Victoria Beckham wants to talk to you.' And I said, 'Yeah, yeah, yeah.'"

In the end, Silver set up a meeting with the former Spice Girl at an exclusive Bel-Air location.

"I spent three hours telling her I wasn't interested," Silver says. "I have this thing about celebrities thinking they know the fashion world.…I said, 'If you're really serious, you'll come to Winnipeg.'"

Last summer, Posh made her way to the 'Peg to join forces on her new line of jeans, due in stores this month.

"She just struck me as a real person," Silver says. "She talked about her kids and I talked about mine. She knows what her business is and she knows it's about press. She gets frustrated about the little things just like everybody else. She just happens to carry two bodyguards and have 40 paparazzi following her around everywhere she goes."

Ah, the simple life.