File: Japanese workwear and selvedge jeans, a little trip to Japan

Lately we are talking more and more often about “workwear”. Besides, a little wrongly and wrongly, often without really knowing what it is apart from the fact that we have to wear big flannel shirts and have “the look of the job”, basically have the face of a jailbird. .So I will try to explain to you, help you discover and perhaps why not convert to this universe that is relatively unfamiliar to most of you. To begin with, unless you understand nothing about English, we are talking about a “non-fashion” based on work clothing . I talk about “non-fashion” because for purists, it is a lifestyle and not a look strictly speaking. Of course, this only concerns the hard-line branch of this movement, which welcomes the renewed interest that people have in their work and their passion but at the same time regrets a certain reappropriation by the mainstream. Talking about this fashion is a thing arduous, because it is vast and fascinating. This is why I am going to do it in three different posts, by geographical area. Japan, North America and Europe. I can already hear you screaming scandal. Yes I'm leaving Australia aside, because even if there are interesting things like the Deus Ex or Noir brands, their market is relatively limited and the products are quite expensive because of shipping costs and our friends at customs. .

Africa, South America and the rest of Asia do not have particularly interesting things to offer, difficult to access, not of the best quality and therefore of no interest in discovering this universe.

We often hear that Japan is THE country of jeans. True and false. In fact, it is above all the country of denim. Most of the best denim factories are in Japan. We can even say that outside this country any other denim is of little interest except for Cone Mills in the USA and a few rare products woven in Europe. For your information, most of the factories are grouped in the city of Kojima in Okayama prefecture. How to explain this? Japan has a long history with cotton and indigo, as does Italy and its Genoa cloth. In fact, from the middle of the 18th century, perhaps even earlier, we found fabrics that looked very similar to denim. Of course it's a somewhat crude canvas, for kimonos and clothing that are rather cheap but strong and resistant. The basis of Japanese workwear.

And towards the end of the 70s / beginning of the 80s, big brands like Levi's, Lee... changed their old looms for more modern ones, making much larger canvases but unfortunately of lower quality, profitability dictates.

Meanwhile, demand for jeans is exploding in Japan. The first local brands, wanting to lower manufacturing costs, asked Japanese textile companies to provide them with raw materials. In 1972, the first Japanese denim appeared: "KD-8", for Kurabo Denim - 8th test, was developed for the Big John brand.

Japanese work attire.

If you didn't spend your time flirting with your neighbor Marie or Caroline during your history classes in college, you should know that after the Second World War, Japan was under American influence for many years. And like any good “imperialist” country, it imported its way of life . Despite violent anti-Americanism, certain things took root quite easily in the country : rock and everything that comes from it. The clothing culture in the first place. So the country, thanks to the GI's, had jeans, sweatshirts and other boots in abundance. Which makes many collectors happy today. Indeed, are you looking for a Levi's from the 1930s? A pair of Red Wings from the 60s? Well, go take a look at the vintage shops in northern Harajuku in Tokyo. It is the global Mecca of vintage workwear.And when you know the craze of Japanese collectors, you can be sure to find what you are looking for, whatever you are looking for, provided you have a well-funded bank account.And it is this wealth of “original” pieces available and the passion of some that have allowed the development of this culture and, let’s be crazy, fashion.

Japan is distinguished by a classic workwear culture bordering on extremism. Indeed, many brands remake vintage pieces identically, with an attention to detail bordering on madness. For this they have at their disposal the best denims and other fabrics, made in their country and easily available compared to us, Westerners, and of course at much more attractive prices. Of course jeans are the centerpiece of any outfit. And the choice in this country is just mind-blowing. The number of brands, more or less known (often less than more), their madness, their attention to detail and quality mean that any classic workwear fan must have (or at least have tried) jeans. Japanese brand in her wardrobe.
But beware ! These are not easy pieces to wear. Indeed, most of these brands remake, as I explained, not copies (a derogatory term in the sense that the quality is lower compared to the original) but replicas, sometimes of better quality than the originals. . When we know the cuts of jeans from the first half of the 20th century (and before) or when we discover them, we tend to hesitate. Wearing jeans that any MC from the 90s and 00s from the Bronx would love is not always easy. Knowing that there is generally only one length, which is generally between 34 and 37 (US size). Other pieces are also very popular with purists. Shirts first. Whatever the material, denim, chambray, wool and flannel... But preferably a model that is a replica. We will favor materials from old weaving machines for more "authenticity". Because in this “historical canal” branch, authenticity is the crux of the matter. Here too we will be meticulous on the details like a little selvedge edging on a pocket, the material used for the buttons... The characteristic edging of a selvedge canvas, a detail so appreciated by purists.
These curious overhanging threads are not cut to prove that the item is new.

Japan being one of the last countries with old antique weaving machines (by "antique" we generally speak of before the 1960s) still in operation, this is what makes the difference in their eyes compared to the rest of the world. (no, the Japanese are not chauvinistic...). Denim made on an old Toyoda machine from the 1930s compared with current denim used by any mainstream brand of jeans is a bit like trying to compare a baguette made by an artisan baker and a baguette bought at the supermarket (Epicureans will understand).

In the same spirit, a cotton fabric factory, Loopwheeler, uses looms from another age, producing fabrics of incredible quality, but suddenly relatively expensive because they only produce 1m2 of fabric at a time. hour per machine. We find them regularly used by many brands, both Japanese and Western, on high-end sweatshirts and hoodies. The brand has even become a quality label.

Loopwheler cotton, in a hoodie from the Studio d'Artisan brand The search for authenticity is pushed to the extreme: wear identical to jeans 100 years old, use of the same sewing thread found at the ends of the earth, use of the same Union sewing machines... And the madness of some, like the boss of the Momotaro brand who is known for his fanaticism: he pushes the vice to manually dye cotton threads by hand as in the 18th century in baths of natural indigo and to use a semi-automatic weaving machine from the 19th century. This way we can better understand the price of jeans...

This classic movement is not the most accessible for a neophyte, he will quickly be lost, will not understand most of the terms used and above all will make bad choices at the start because mixing certain classic pieces with more current things is quite difficult. . And again I’m not talking to you about the “Hobo” trend which must represent the pinnacle of radical workwear.

For the most curious among you, there are some publications, notably "reference" magazines such as Free & Easy, Lightning or 2nd which are quite difficult to find in France (the Japanese Junka store in Paris) but quite easy to order in line. These are very good sources of information provided you can read Japanese or have a good command of English in some cases.

Alongside classicism, a more accessible universe coexists, sartorially speaking, not financially...Number of small brands, undoubtedly better known in our regions but unfortunately little or not even distributed, offer us a revisited workwear universe, often closer to our expectations in terms of cutting and fitting. A generation of young designers (yes when we are 35-40 years old we are still young...) have been working for several years, regularly together during collaboration or joint labels, and do everything to ensure that the We get yelled at by our bankers. They have generally been rampant since the 1990s, with some exceptions. And they all have one thing in common: being the bastard offspring of Hiroshi Fujiwara.HF, for short, is a legend of what we could call Japanese street culture. I'm not going to give you his bio here, but he's a very important person in the world of clothing design, and not only in Japan but also worldwide. He was undoubtedly the first of what we call the “trendsetters”.
In addition to an incredible vista, he has also enormously helped many people in Japan in the development of their brands like Nigo (Bape and Human Made), Hiroki Nakamura (Visvim) or Hirofumi Kiyonaga (SOPH., UE)... In short... He deserves his nickname Harajuku Godfather.

Why am I talking about this you ask me?

Although Japan is a rather rigid country in many areas, when it comes to fashion it is quite the opposite. HF is precisely one of the people who contributed to taking it out of a certain classicism (Rei Kawakubo with Comme Des Garçons too but that's another story...) and to having taken it to another level, while keeping one foot on the street. He had anticipated the desires of future thirty-somethings.

A great fan of timeless pieces (Levi's jeans, Rolex watches, Nike AF1...) he has reinterpreted them for brands without distorting them but adding his own touch. In this he greatly influenced an entire generation.

And the latter took up the precepts of HF. Namely keeping the soul of the product, its qualities, trying to erase its faults and bringing it towards something contemporary through the use of both new materials (gore-tex, vibram soles, etc.) and others. more traditional but still qualitative.

The best example being the Visvim brand

Hiroki Nakamura is a great collector of classic and vintage pieces, both workwear and more traditional things such as kimonos or pieces of Native American culture.

He is also a relentless researcher, who spends up to 250 days a year traveling around the world to find the best existing raw materials and who evolves his key pieces over the years to improve comfort, fit, the details.

This is also what characterizes this movement: achieving the right cut, trying to achieve perfection. And to achieve this they can count on a very dedicated fan base .

Of course I imagine your skepticism regarding the supposed workwear inspiration of these brands. Well, yet she is there.

But it is more subtle. Indeed, rather than flirting with the cowboy lifestyle, they tend towards military influences with the use of camouflage, military jackets, chinos... Military clothes are also work clothes. Note also a strong casual European and American influence with a bit of a preppy feel. But their reinterpretation allows them to be mixed and easily integrated into any type of outfit.

Other brands also have a well-defined universe. I'm thinking in particular of Neighborhood and Wtaps. Very influenced by the military world and, for the first time, the lifestyle of US bikers from the 50s and 70s, they also offer interesting things. More difficult to integrate into a classic look, their respective universe is still rich enough and open enough to pick up pieces for your wardrobe.

There are many other brands, which I will not mention here, because there are too many. But I invite you to search for yourself. Because Japan offers a lot of interesting products, often with a strong character or on the contrary with a very practical possibility of integration to juggle different styles without having to buy a lot of things. On the other hand, Japanese brands are worth it. They are expensive but in general the price is justified by extraordinary quality and finishes and above all you have to be able to find them.

Few shops in France offer these brands because they are almost not distributed, so instead rely on e-shops in Britain or Nordic countries which have more choice than here. Otherwise you are left with Japanese e-stores with the risk of having to pay, in addition to quite expensive shipping costs, customs.

But hey, when you love, that doesn't count, does it?