An American in the Paris fashion world for nearly 25 years, Earl Pickens has stayed mostly under the radar, working with Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and Lee Cooper. But his relative anonymity is about to end. Tomorrow, the 46-year-old designer will present about 60 haute denim looks under his own label, Url Pickens (a name he registered decades before the Internet era, he notes), in association with the French luxury heavyweight Bocage Avenir Couture. “The idea is to take denim high end, but with humility,” says Pickens. “It’s about giving it a French edge with fine tailoring and weaves, hand finishings, and the kind of workmanship you just don’t see any more. Some pieces look like linen—but they’re still denim.” Goodbye, boyfriend jeans; hello, “husband trousers.” Pickens is also gearing up to put the creativity he honed in France to work in his native land. Raised on Chicago’s South Side, Pickens fell into fashion as a teenager by sitting in on drawing classes at the Art Institute. Now, he’s said to be preparing a homecoming of sorts by overseeing creative direction at the recently rescued Chicago-based clothier Hartmarx, whose most loyal fan occupies the Oval Office.