DailyLogGer: Best Jeans For Denim Purists - Part 2 Best Jeans For Denim Purists - Part 2 ================================================================================ TFXm on 16/10/2011 00:56:00 List of some of the best denim brands and their respective models out there. This may not be a comprehensive list nor would it be a "list for all" kind as different people do prefer different stuffs for most of the time. 11. Nudie Masa Nudie Masa are one of the most desirable jeans Nudie ever produced, and were limited to 500 pieces only according to their online store. The construction is very solid and the cut should be appealing for almost all due the slightly slim straight silhouette which is, not too tight nor it is a loose cut. Consider this a more tapered version of the Even Steven (regular room through thigh - similar to Regular Ralph & Slim opening - similar to Slim Jim). Made in Japan of 14 oz Japanese selvage denim. They run true to marked size. Side Note:- Nudie Masa are no more available online. It's better to look for them in any of the physical shops who carry the brand and I was able to pick up some nice pieces from certain shops in Netherlands through friends over there. 12. Evis (pre Evisu) No 1 Special:- Evisu may not be the most loved brand outside of Japan and the hype surrounding them is also quite high compared to other Japanese brands which are pretty much hidden from the public view. But these are Evis before they had to change the name globally to Evisu the Levi's law suit, so they pretty rare and real vintage jean. No 1 red gulls are a a nice change from the usual white one and they will fade with wear and washing. Made in Japan. They were priced at £350 in 1998, costly deal... As usual, your best bet is http://global.rakuten.com/en/search?pf=&pt=&f=0&fs=0&vm=2&sm=1&st=&tl=206654&k=Evisu+No1 But they are "Evisu", not the older "Evis" ones. 13. Denime Lee repros Shins era:- Denime is from the "great" Osaka-5 group, comprised of companies Denime, Fullcount, Warehouse, Studio D'artisan and Evisu. Compared to other members of the group Denime seems to fly a bit under the radar in the general denim scene. Denime was probably the most understated underhyped but one of the best Denim brands in Japan.These are Lee repros from Shins era. Denime has been taken over and there is a good deal of concern re the current quality so Orrizonti and Shins era pieces are becoming rare and collectable. Should I say their legacy being watered down after the ownership change? The newer denim is thin and not up to the standard of the original ones. Good if you have an "original" in your wardrobe. Most people who owns Denime suggest sizing up by 1 since the XX denim does not stretch that much. Denime's 14oz XX fabric is thick, dyed darker and is really beautiful which fades slowly. When faded, they look real vintage. The best part is that Denime denim does not cost that much as that of other brands in the same league, nonetheless the quality and construction are excellent. The sweet part of the deal is that they ship basically everywhere unlike most other brands who offer direct selling. One must visit the Denime store located in Daikanyama, Japan. http://www.denime.jp/catalog/products/list.php?category_id=6 Avenue used to be one of the biggest stockist of Denime products. One can still get the red tab version from there, but they are zipper fly. The Shins era are pretty much non-existent though. http://www.pants-shop-avenue.com/SHOP/list.php 14. Sugar Cane 1945 Lee Replica:- Sugar Cane may not need a huge introduction compared to some other understated denim brands out there for people who know the scene. The 13.75oz left hand twill denim is lovely. Sugarcane stopped production of these in 2007/08 which makes them deadstock :) 15. Lee Archives Lee × Warehouse "101B-BS" 1930's Cowboy Model 66:- The outcome of Lee - Warehouse collaboration. They're the 120th anniversary model and the denim is fantastic. Texas organic cotton, left hand twill denim fabric. The denim is not sanforised, so be careful when washing or soaking them. Precious, limited model, absolutely love them. Limited sizes are available in topjimmy http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/topjimmy/item/warehouse101b/ 16. Rising Sun Yukon:- Yukon is an exciting exercise by Rising Sun to produce period correct garments without necessarily copying any particular vintage models. Mike Hodis goes in length and breadth to create vintage looking denim with beautiful details. The super nice denim used to create those pieces are pretty much deadstock. It weighs around 12oz. Probably the dye used is a mix of natural indigo from white oak. The Yukon is like $500 in US. Courtesy - Rising Sun http://risingsunjeans.com/shop/ Rising Sun articles are available in Hamburg as well: Speakeasy-The Denim Bar, Poststrasse 41, 20354 Hamburg, 00490434107759 17. Rising Sun Blacksmith:- The Rising Sun Yukon jeans is often regarded as the most period-correct jeans they offer, whereas the Blacksimth jeans exemplifies the beauty of the single needle. Which I prefer. This jean is made of a dark indigo selvage denim milled on vintage shuttle looms in the USA. The denim they use on this one is very stretchy. It is the quintessential jean for any authentic denim lover with full of details that anyone passionate about old world denim can appreciate. It comes fully equipped with donut hole suspender buttons, belt loops made on a single needle black head Singer, a fully lined cinch back and deadstock vintage feed bag pocketing. This pair jeans stands out as one of the most impressive models to date. The blacksmiths come in a sanforized 12oz denim and feels very smooth. There are talks about the new ones which use 14oz denim. The Blacksmiths costs around $500 plus $50 for shipping to Europe if you are buying directly from Rising Sun. Sivletto is also a stockist and sells them for $552 and their shipping rates are more reasonable for people from EU. http://sivletto.com/system/search/product.asp?id=5303&c=424&page=1&rnum=2 18. Ooe-Yofukuten & Co:- OOE was founded and run by a married couple from Japan. Their products can be considered on the same level as that of any of the Osaka 5 biggies. In some ways OEE are actually better. The denim they use is always strictly authentic in its look and all items were hand sewn by the nice lady, at least in the past. Many other brands choose to use more innovative fabrics, like heavier or more slubby ones, and it is merely a matter of choice which you prefer. Buyer can select between sanforized or unsanforized denim accoring to their preferences, which'll be appreciated by many hardcore denim heads. OOE items are not represented in any store, only sold through their website. Their passionately written blog is the only advertisement visible so far. The couple resides in the small city of Aichi on the Japanese countryside, where they have an atelier and 'updated' machinery that today consists of seven different Union Special sewing machines. http://www.ooe-yofukuten.com/bottoms_bk.html Their blog http://rhr.blog105.fc2.com/ 19. Kapital Zipang & Kapital Cisco :- Arguably Kapital is one of the most under rated denim company going. This brand is fairly similar to 45RPM, but the price points are a lot milder for our wallets. The dye work on Zipang Ai is beautiful and the fit they offer is also great. There are wonderful details all over it and reasonably priced for natural indigo jeans. Zipang denim fade to a characteristic aqua blue and pronounced whiskering and honeycombing are much less for a repro. Older versions of Cisco were dyed with a greenish turquoise hue, which may not be the ideal color for many. But they are pretty with those cinch back and Lee styled back pockets and all. Capital Cisco No 4 - courtesy viv1984viv Both Cisco and Zipang are made of 14oz Zimbabwe cotton and one wash denim is super stubborn. Note: their waist run small compared to the tagged size and legs are wider than you may expect. Inseam on Zipang will be around 35" and for Cisco it's 33". Kapital Zipang http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/jplace-juju/item/kapital-09aw-slp-000/ In Japan, Ebisu and Kapital Legs are places of interest for Kapital garments and articles. http://kapital.jp/denim/ http://www.kapital.jp/e-store/index.php For US buyers Cotton Sheep in san francisco's hayes valley has all the standard denim models, accessories. Not many are left in their online store though. Zipang Made in Japan... Comes in wooden box. US price is US$588.00 which is higher than what Rakuten offers. http://cottonsheep.com/ Or can be purchased from Legs store, and the Blue Hands store http://www.rakuten.co.jp/royalskool/ http://item.rakuten.co.jp/takanna/c/0000000100/ http://item.rakuten.co.jp/koromoya/c/0000000127/ Various sources stated that Kapital used to make 45rpm's denim and was responsible for some of their best products. Kapital makes some great denim and can't beat them at that price range; yet gets very little love. But whatever, I prefer the best kept secrets ;) 20. Kato Denim:- The 100% organic cotton which Kato uses in their denim is pretty hairy and heavy, but soft and feels great to touch. Since the yarn is not dyed deep into the core, it is assured that the jeans will fade fast and age beautifully resulting in interesting vertical fading and nice traintracks with wear. Kato jeans run large and the denim will stretch a fair bit. Sizing down by 2 is generally recommended for them. One could easily mistake Kato for 45RPM's sister line due to it's quality of construction and similar looking selvage on their inseams. Thanks Opie for the beautiful pictures of bucklebacks http://kato-aaa.jp/ http://www.titicaca-kato-online.com/?mode=grp&gid=123783&sort=n For people outside of Japan, http://www.nordicdenimhouse.com/index.php?target=categories&category_id=8&cs_cookies%5Bcsid%5D=890151dd1286e7bc017344e32cb7ec7f&cs_cookies%5Bcart_languageC%5D=EN Apparently http://www.superdenim.co.uk/ do not stock them these days. Then there are many other models from our usual suspects like LVC, Samurai, Sugar Cane, Studio D'Artisan, Full Count, Evisu, Warehouse, Pure Blue Japan, Momotaro, The Flat Head, Oni Denim, Somet, Iron Heart, Eternal, Skull, Imperial Denim, Strike Gold, Mister Freedom, Real Japan Blues and lesser known but amazing brands like Blue Blood, Howies Japanese, Yen Jeans, Atelier LaDurance, Chimala etc which were left out of this list, but will be added as soon as possible. Personally, I am not a big fan of fast faders and that could be the reason why there aren't that many pairs in the list so far. SDA's are hard to fade and the denim is compact and I like them a lot. Canes do have some amazing pieces with their experimental fabrics and dye work. And there are many other models to mention, so, the list will be extended in due course.