As we look back into our archives—back to where it all began 20 years ago—we wanted to share a few stories from the early days of SKU, when everything was smaller, slower, and deeply hands-on.
When David launched Save Khaki, every garment began with intention—and a pencil. He worked side by side with Jenny, a dear friend and pattern maker #1, on every fit, starting with hand-drawn sketches and paper patterns cut by hand. In those early days, it wasn’t unusual to walk into David’s apartment—part home, part studio—and see swatches, vintage finds, development samples, and denim washes lined up along the walls.
David was deeply opinionated about everything, life, sports, and especially the fit of a khaki. At the time, chinos were out of fashion. Every brand had one, but in David’s view, no one had gotten it quite right. So he set out to make his own—and in a tongue-in-cheek moment, named the brand Save Khaki. Whenever someone asked about the name, David would be the first to admit, with a grin, “It’s a terrible name.”
Jenny, a longtime friend and collaborator, drew many of the early technical sketches by hand, complete with handwritten callouts. She drafted patterns in her own apartment, slipped them into manila envelopes—with sketches taped on one side and cutter’s musts (detailed instructions for the sample cutter) carefully noted on the other—and sent them off for sampling. Early proto samples were made at Jenna’s sample room in New York’s Garment District.
Everything flowed back through David’s apartment. From day one, David served as Save Khaki’s fit model—not only because small brands couldn’t afford industry fit models, but also because what designer doesn’t want to be the first to wear their own creation? Jenny would lead fittings, refine paper patterns at home, and eventually send styles to our factory. In the first few years of Save Khaki, the chinos were produced in China as the brand found its footing.
Years later, we built our own sample room and began manufacturing chinos in Los Angeles, where our sample maker Rosendo stitched every single style. Today, we use industry-standard Gerber software to digitize and refine our blocks, bringing precision and consistency to every garment. Yet those original paper patterns—still tucked inside worn manila envelopes—remain carefully preserved.
When we began producing chinos in the United States, David renamed the brand SKU Save Khaki United, marking a new chapter and signaling our commitment to domestic manufacturing.
These manila envelopes are more than just patterns. They’re reminders of late nights, friendship, shared passion for a startup, endearing analog beginnings, and the belief that good clothes are built patiently, by a small team who believes, one thoughtful detail at a time.
