6 Japanese Denim Brands to Know
Ask any true denim-head where the best jeans are made and they won’t give it a second thought: Japan. Since the 1980s, Japan has functioned as a sort of denim promised land. A dungaree Valhalla, if you will. Especially in the Okayama prefecture, where a cache of denim factories have been turning out high-quality selvedge denim for decades using old American shuttle looms from the 1940s.
It’s here that denim is treated as more of an art form than as just a durable textile. It’s a means for expression. But not just for the maker of the jeans. It’s also a means of expression for the wearer. Because most Japanese denim brands do not view their jeans as a finished product. They see it as a starting point. And the rest of the story will be written by the person who wears their denim for years to come.
To fully understand this approach, it’s important to understand the Japanese idea of wabi-sabi. Though it’s a term that defies a conventional definition (it’s more of a feeling than a thing you can deconstruct), wabi-sabi, at its most essential, is an appreciation for the transient beauty of the physical world. It is embracing an aesthetic of impermanence. Of the imperfect. It’s Zen’s answer to why we’re drawn to the patina of an old leather jacket, or an old piece of wooden furniture, or a perfectly faded and worn-in pair of jeans.
Of course, acquiring such a beautiful patina doesn’t just require time. It requires a high-quality starting point. Which is where these 6 Japanese denim brands come in. If you want beautiful denim that will not only look incredible on the day you buy it, but even better 5, 10, or even 20 years down the road, then here are the six Japanese brands you need to know.
Studio d’Artisan
Founded in 1979 in Osaka, Studio d’Artisan is one of the older Japanese denim brands, and was one of the early pioneers of the workwear reproduction and denim boom in Japan during the 1980s and ‘90s. The name comes from the French workwear that was an early design influence for the brand, and continues to be a major part of their DNA. Today, Studio d’Artisan is best known for infusing heritage Japanese manufacturing techniques with innovative dying and weaving processes. And while classic 20th century French workwear is still a feature of the brand’s aesthetic, today it’s mixed in with elements of American Western and modern street style.
Iron Heart
Motorcycling, specifically the classic Brando-esque, grease on your hands, dust on your boots, noisy vintage bikes type motorcycling, is at the core of the Iron Heart brand. Originally founded by Shinichi Haraki in 2002 to cater to motorcyclists, Iron Heart is most famous for their ultra-thick signature 21-ounce raw denim. Basically, the sort of jeans that can stand up to the rigors of life on the back of a motorcycle. And, god for bid, the occasional foray off of it. Of course, if you’re not the motorcycling sort, but do like the look of a tough-as-nails biker, this is still the denim for you. Because even though it’s super-heavyweight, it’s actually quite comfortable and easy to wear. And, most importantly, it looks beautiful with age.
Samurai
Another Osaka-based brand, Samurai was founded in 1997 by Toru Nogami to recreate the type of high-quality jeans that were produced for the first half of the 20th century in America. Samurai jeans are instantly recognizable by the silver thread sewn into the selvedge, which serves as an homage to the famous Katana swords of the brand’s namesake. Today Samurai is best known for their incredible attention to detail, especially when it comes to their proprietary fabric innovations. Innovations that focus on cotton fiber quality, the climate the cotton is grown in — they cultivate their own cotton in the Hyogo prefecture of Japan — and artisanal dyeing techniques.
Sugar Cane
Founded in 1975 by Toyo Enterprises — a legendary umbrella company that represents some of the biggest names in Japanese Americana — Sugar Cane is one of the most popular brands among denim-obsessives. Known for creating high-quality takes on vintage “dungarees” (the word they prefer to use for jeans), Sugar Cane is where you go for classic 20th century fits (basically your favorite jeans from the ’40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s). Beyond the classic aesthetic, Sugar Cane’s selvedge denim fabrics (in some cases, they use actual sugar cane fibers, hence the name) are legendary among denim heads due to the way they age and fade. Their denim is known for its fuzzy texture and inky, almost purple-ish indigo when new. And, once it ages, for its amazing hand and beautiful, high-contrast fades.
The Strike Gold
Owned and run by a single family, the Yamamoto family, The Strike Gold is based in Kojima in the Okayama prefecture, and is basically a highly-crafted take on 1950s American denim. These are jeans that harken back to the halcyon age of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and Marlon Brando, when denim first became a true cultural icon. More than simple vintage reproductions, though, The Strike Gold represents the epitome of wabi-sabi, using beautifully textured proprietary denim that offers some of the best high-contrast fading on the market. For those who want a classic ‘50s style jean that will achieve a truly awe-inspiring patina, look no further than The Strike Gold.
Stevenson Overall Co.
If The Strike Gold is the 1950s version of denim, then Stevenson Overall Co. is the 1930s. In fact, Stevenson Overall Co. was actually an American company founded in 1920, but it went out of business during the Great Depression. Enter Zip Stevenson and Atsusuke Tagaya, two denim and workwear enthusiasts who revived the brand in Tokyo back in 2005. With a heavy dose of Western inspiration, as well as classic 1930s workwear, Stevenson Overall Co. is the perfect jean for those who love that early 20th century lunch pail worker aesthetic.