Kung Hei Fatt Choi (恭喜發財)

Well it's Chinese New Year.


This year is the year of the pig.

The most appropriate jeans for the year of the pig would be the pig brand... Studio D'Artisan.

Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous year!

Rampuya and Aizome (Indigo)

Here are two videos introducing the processes at Rampuya workshops.

• Indigo plant processing.
• Indigo dye.
• Momotaro/Japan Blue jeans.
• Denim hand loom in action.

Rampuya use the labor-intensive techniques of slow dyeing natural indigo. They use the polygonum legume. The leaves are composted over almost one hundred days to prepare the dye material called sukumo.

The sukumo is mixed with lime and lye (remember lye in Fight Club?) and kneaded until it dissolves. More lye is added, and a sugar agent (sake).

The handloom weaves denim fabric at the honest and steady rate of only 1m per day. (sounds excessively slow to me)

I will be trying to visit these aizome/momtaro/japan blue/rampuya workshops in May.
(Thanks to Neilfuji from kato jeans for giving me the first link to the aizome tour)

I found THE LYE SCENE from Fight Club, so I thought I'd include it here.

Remember the vinegar if you're making your own indigo!

Momotaro Versus Oni (桃太郎 VS 鬼)

Momotaro is a Japanese fairytale...

The legend is that a boy was born from the stone of a large peach. (Momotaro means Peach-boy).

Together with a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant, Momotaro defeated the three-eyed, three-toed, people-eating oni demons who were terrorising the mainland from the nearby island of Shikoku.

Read a more complete story here.

Here is a reading book version of the story on a Nintendo DS lite.

The battle of Momotaro against the Oni Demons is still being waged in the denim world, with...

Momotaro Jeans

VERSUS

Oni Denim

Big Names in the Denim World (updated)

There is very little information available, especially in English, on the people who have played key roles in the denim revival. Here are some of the big names...

Hidehiko Yamane (山根英彦)

Born 1959. Started Evis in 1988, and founded Evisu in 1991.

Yoshiyuki Hayashi (林芳淳)

Born 1956. Launched the Denime brand in 1988.

Hitoshi Tsujimoto (辻本仁史)

Born 1960. President of Real McCoys. (I don't have a full understanding of his background)

Shigeharu Tagaki
Designed jeans for the Studio D'Artisan brand in 1982 .

Mikiharu Tsujita (辻田幹晴)
Established the Fullcount brand in 1992.

Toshikiyo Hirata (平田俊清)

Established the Kapital brand in 1995.

Jean Touitou

Started A.P.C. (Atelier Production Creation) in 1987. (thanks Patrick)

Maria Erixon

Founder of Nudie Jeans in 1999. Designed the Regular Ralf.

Rogan Gregory

Played a key role in starting the current Premium Denim trend. Started the brands Rogan 2001, Loomstate 2004, Edun 2005.


I'm afraid that that is all the information I have. Let me know if you have some other big names who should be included.

Chuck Yeager (video)

Okay, so I've worked out how to post YouTube videos. I'll try to not get carried away posting non-related videos.

Here an old news story on Chuck being the first man to break the sound barrier in horizontal flight.



Yeah, there's no denim, but it looks like Chuck is wearing an A-2 flight jacket in the second half.

Ryoko Hirosue - Jeans

I use to like this song a long time ago.


I didn't realise back then, that the title of the song is "Jeans". Online translators didn't exist back then.

Ryoko is kinda enchanting in a goofy way. My friend Nelson calls her the man-child which is actually a good description. Nice to see that she's wearing some raw denims.

Denim Maps

I've updated the Denim Maps.

The map areas are much bigger now.

I'll be changing the icons, and I've created a form where you can submit map updates.

If anyone can help placing the following stores:

Porkys
Pure Blue Japan
Any other Rakuten style stores

I'll be in Osaka in May, so I'll try to make a decent map of Osaka for everyone.
You can submit Osaka stores now. It'd help me get started.