Ed Sup is short for Extrement Difficile – Superior, meaning Extremely Difficult – Superior and refers to a French grade of rock climbing or mountaineering at the very top end of the scale. The logic for calling a range of outdoor clothing, Ed Sup, we suppose, is to lure the buyer into thinking that he or she could go out and climb such grades once the purchase was complete! That’s pretty much what happened in 1979/80 when founder of our collection, Mick Tighe, went along to a shop in Chamonix, France and bought this pair of trousers. He was a young mountain guide back then and could actually climb Ed Sup. However, he quickly found out that this particular pair of trousers were not much use on the Chamonix Aguilles, being too lightweight, very unstretchy and with no insulation properties whatsoever. The trousers were subsequently consigned to social events and posing in the High Street and ultimately the ‘bottom drawer’ from where they have been extracted and placed in the collection.