You probably think you know Dockers. And maybe you do. But just in case: Dockers were first issued in Argentina in 1983, with initial designs patterned after a dockworkers' pant that a Levi's merchandiser had brought back from Hong Kong.

The global brand eventually became a household name, its chinos redefining the business casual work aesthetic. Based in San Francisco - where Dockers has been part of Levi Strauss & Co. since day one - Dockers is currently launching a new American initiative: the Premium Edition collection, an elevated look and feel for the brand. It's not new to Dockers but is new to the U.S.

To find out more about Premium Edition we spoke with Tony Murray, the design director for the division, and Radha Weaver, senior merchant. They explained to us some of the finer points of the clothes and how right now, Premium Edition is all about getting back to Dockers' California roots.

People are generally familiar with Dockers. But what's the Premium Collection?

Radha Weaver: The Premium line was built as a collection, head to toe, to meet all the needs of the consumer's life. The style is a little more modern, a little slimmer cut. There are surprising details and construction elements. Premium draws on California heritage that inspires the colors palettes, patterns and garment washes.

Tony Murray: I led the team that designed everything that went into the Nordstrom buy. We're crafting our identity around our California heritage. For inspiration, we've been choosing iconic locations around California, going to these places to build our story and seek inspiration. For the first flow of clothes Nordstrom will receive, we went to Big Sur. It's an amazing place. A lot of the things we take for granted with California - yoga, bohemianism, the hippie movement - a lot of that came from Big Sur in the '50s. It shows up in little places in our garments. Our laundered shirt has a little micro-print-first the fabric is great, a fine, 50-thread-count poplin fabric, great hand-feel, washed-down-but if you look at the prints, they're these arty prints inspired by things we saw down at the Henry Miller Library. Artists who lived there during the Beat era in the '50s and '60s were inspirational. There were different artists that Henry Miller hung out with and we looked at their doodles in notebooks, creating our own, inspired by that. Little things in the print tell the story of our trip down to Big Sur.

RW: That's what I meant about surprising details.

TM: Big Sur, there's so much there, so much history. But it could be as simple as a rock at the base of a cliff. The color of that rock could be the inspiration for a pant.

Maybe people don't know Dockers is from California. Chinos and khakis have an East Coast association for some.

RW: Right, well we're in it, so it's easy to forget that. Dockers was introduced in 1986 in San Francisco. Somebody in Levis Strauss & Co. brought over a pant from the Hong Kong office, a dock pant. That was the inspiration pant. From there we led the casualization of workwear. You may think about a pleated khaki, but we're rooted in a casual way of dressing. So we're going back to our casual roots, our California heritage.

TM: When the suit was the office uniform, success on the east coast meant you got a better suit. Success on the west coast meant you didn't have to wear a suit anymore. We set the standard for what became known as business casual.

What are some of the details in our Premium selection that you might miss on the Internet, but are crucial once you touch the garment?

TM: The broken-in chino is inspired by the ocean spray at Big Sur, literally inspired by the question, "If you left a pair of pants and left them on a rock at Big Sur and came back a month later, what would they look like?" When you look inside the pant and you see the pocket linings have a striped pattern that shows up in other pieces of the collection, those details speak to the quality, inspiration and coherence of the collection.

What about the camouflage? Were you hunting out there in Big Sur?

TM: Funny you mention that, as we speak Radha and I are both wearing the camouflage shirt.

Wow, can you even see each other right now? You're probably blending in.

TM: No, we're totally invisible. The camouflage came from old military garments in surplus stores. They get repurposed and have a second life. That was the inspiration. It's one of the most comfortable shirts I own, it's a stretch poplin, and I'd be saying that even if I didn't work at Dockers.

RW: Another key piece for us the garment-dyed jean cut pant. It's a rugged twill, but with fine needlework for a modern, clean look. When you cuff it, there's a busted side seam, with a contrasting stitch that's really fun. It's presentable but fun.

And for those who don't know, what is garment-dyeing and what are its benefits?

TM: It means we construct the garment first, and then dip the whole thing in a big vat of dye. What you get is an overall look. It looks more casual. Softer. More washed. And there's a certain dimension to it.

RW: Because each is done separately, it gives each one more of a unique feel to it.

TM: It just looks higher quality. The alternative is when you dye the fabric first, then construct the garment. Garment dying is more about developing the personality of the garment as a whole, giving it a one-of-a-kind feel.

RW: The pant Tony was talking about earlier, the broken-in chino: that's a garment dye as well. But there we start with a khaki, instead of white fabric. It's for a different tone.

How do you think the current Premium collection sit within Dockers' 30-plus-year history?

RW: Our collection is not preppy or precious. It's about clothes you can wear and get better with time. So going back to those original dock pants, in that way, it's the same.