A body made for labor. A boy made for escape.

I started this collection rooted in the landscape of my home, Mt. Airy, North Carolina. A small world where blue-collar work was ingrained in our community. Factories dotted the landscape, filled with the steady hum of men and women crafting the everyday. Evenings at my parents' restaurant stretched late, serving the graveyard shift workers. 

Years later, in New York, I found myself in the walls of a new factory, surrounded again by the rhythm and routine of making. A different world, the same labor. It was a space of contradiction: often isolating, exhausting, yet warm. I didn’t always know where I fit, but I found a sense of belonging in the shared effort. In the space, I worked alongside another man—he was older, quiet. Something would pass between us, an unspoken current I couldn’t quite name. A strange mix of comfort and guilt in the weight of his attention. A fleeting glance, a lingering touch in the tight space.

The grit of factory life was paired with a newfound sense of freedom—one I discovered in the New York underground. After long days of work, I would find ease in the night. Sweat-soaked shirts in two different contexts—a dialogue between the body bound by labor and the body in motion. A life rigidly lived, shaped by discipline and code. And then, the unraveling. I kept returning to Beau Travail. The final dance expressed the same transformation I experienced when letting go.

Junaux 01 Boy Bleu builds upon the foundation of Junaux 00 Germination. Each style is garment-dyed with natural indigo in Pennsylvania. The dye fades over time, leaving behind a map of wear. Using classic workwear finishes, flat-felled seams, and heavy topstitches in each garment, the styles stay true to their foundation. Shapes that are structured, yet designed to yield and soften with the body.

With a new affinity for tailoring, this collection offers straight-leg trousers, collared shirts, and the James vest, a new layer with a distinct sense of boyishness. I finished the Walter jacket with beeswax, giving it a sense of protection and finish that feels otherworldly. The Tyler Jacket joins returning staples - its structured fit, subtle taper, and patch pockets ground the jacket in traditional tailoring. Each piece is finished with our signature centerback seam and safety pin.