Maple

On some jeans, a flipped-up cuff will reveal the thin white lines of the selvedge –the sealed edge of fabric that’s created by a traditional weaving technique and which has become a design feature. It's the mark of quality denim, appreciated by a special few. The folks at Maple are among those few. Their passion for denim in its purest form approaches religion.

Owner Gary Fiene started out in Newtown in 2003 before expanding to Balmain. He permits some ebb and flow of trends, but at its core Maple is a heritage denim store, selling American and Japanese five-pocket, classic-cut selvedge jeans.

Weaving fabric this way is expensive, and only a few brands make selvedge jeans anymore. Maple carries Sugar Cane from the UK, orSlow from Japan and Tellason from San Francisco.

Fiene believes that women’s fashion pursues trends more than men's, with silhouettes and washes changing often. But regardless of what’s trendy, Maple’s female customers return for quality denim brands such as Frame, Citizens of Humanity and J Brand.

Maple's denim offering is complemented by watches from Tsovet, flannel shirts from Deus Ex Machina and leather jackets from Neuw.