Jeans to get in Japan

[robbie]

Originally Posted by kiya

I sort of disagree with this...
Between Self Edge and Blue in Green's brands (including the brands we both plan on bringing in over the next 12 months) there isn't much left if you're talking about brands that actually have full collections of clothing.
Granted, there ARE "brands" that many haven't heard of but 9 out of 10 of them make one or two jeans (and nothing else) using subpar denim compared to the better known brands.

and you , the proprietor of a denim export store/service aren't the least bit biased.

 

[kiya]

It's not that i'm biased, i travel to Japan 10 to 15 times a year and spend 95% of my time there in denim stores and with denim companies. What i see is that there aren't many lines left to bring to the states that fit two criteria. Companies that produce more than just one or two jeans and nothing else, and a jean that uses a denim which is not in use by other denim companies. The latter is the product of the former due to cost restraints.
Trust me, i'd love it if there were twenty more lines from Japan that had an original denim that was made for them used on their jeans.

 

[dfagdfsh]

why wouldn't you visit the iron heart/samurai etc stores in japan? probably have a much, much larger selection

 

[kiya]

Originally Posted by Teger

why wouldn't you visit the iron heart/samurai etc stores in japan? probably have a much, much larger selection

Definitely visit the Samurai store, they selection there is unreal.
The IH store has the same exact stuff SE carries, literally nothing more outside of the special Buco x Iron Heart helmets.

 

[givemefive]

you should take a notebook and pen and try on like 20 jeans and take notes of the fit so you can buy them later on

 

[mlyngard]

From perusing the selections of brands like Dry Bones, Momotaro, Evisu, Skull and Samurai on the Japanese websites, I can attest that there's many cuts we don't see here. Most probably because there's less of a perceived market for some cuts in the US.

But, for example, Momotaro has four 'tiers' of denim. BiG sells three cuts from one tier. And if you saw Get Smart's photo essay of his trip to Japan this summer, you'll see there's so much more to get excited about seeing in those shops besides just the jeans.

 

[whodini]

Originally Posted by KitAkira

Yes but most people don't want to drop $300+ on a pair of jeans that they know nothing about. They could end up with jeans 2 sizes too small or large or with a bad color, etc. Easier to go with something tried and true so you have a general idea of how it will turn out.

You're thinking of US prices on imported goods, not Japanese prices on domestic goods. Few jeans purchased in Japan actually get close or even go over $300; the ones that do are usually American, not Japanese.

To put it in perspective, imagine paying N&F or Nudie prices as an "experiment." There's clearly more upside at that price range.

 

[KitAkira]

Rakuten prices hover around 300

 

[whodini]

Originally Posted by KitAkira

Rakuten prices hover around 300
Not exactly a reliable source. I'm going off my Sugarcane catalogue and based on my Lobster's report as of a few months ago. Re:jeans prices:

Originally Posted by Get Smart

Some of it was only about $50-70 cheaper than BiG, tho that is quite a bit of savings if you arent paying shipping or custom duties. My Flathead 3001s ended being about $100 less than stateside. Funny thing, I saw Naked and Famous jeans, and they were selling for about $260ish, which is far more than most of the Japanese labels!!

 

[Nouveau Pauvre]

The Undercover store has a sweet noodle bar. Also Undercover rocks.

 

[masterllama]

Originally Posted by whodini

You're thinking of US prices on imported goods, not Japanese prices on domestic goods. Few jeans purchased in Japan actually get close or even go over $300; the ones that do are usually American, not Japanese.

To put it in perspective, imagine paying N&F or Nudie prices as an "experiment." There's clearly more upside at that price range.

Can't help but side with kiya on this one.

Sure you might be able to find lots of small unheard of companies in Japan, but are they doing something completely different than the other japanese companies that are already offered here? are they using a special denim that no other companies use? is the quality radically better or even comparable to companies available in the us?

Sure if i was happening to visit Japan, i'd pick up a pair of some obscure jeans, but only after seeing it in person and checking the cut. as a person who isn't planning on visiting Japan anytime soon, i'm more than pleased with the selection from SE/BiG

even if the jeans go for "only" 200 bucks, thats still 200 bucks wasted if it doesn't work out.

 

[whodini]

Originally Posted by masterllama

Can't help but side with kiya on this one. Sure you might be able to find lots of small unheard of companies in Japan, but are they doing something completely different than the other japanese companies that are already offered here? are they using a special denim that no other companies use? is the quality radically better or even comparable to companies available in the us? Sure if i was happening to visit Japan, i'd pick up a pair of some obscure jeans, but only after seeing it in person and checking the cut. as a person who isn't planning on visiting Japan anytime soon, i'm more than pleased with the selection from SE/BiG even if the jeans go for "only" 200 bucks, thats still 200 bucks wasted if it doesn't work out.
Again, it all depends on your take of the word "unique." Step outside of the SF thought process of "unique=better quality." Like I wrote before, there were a number of boutique labels that I'd seen in the book I previously linked, as well as in other publications, that offered details that I had not seen done with other brands. Evisu puts daicocks on their jeans; hideous to some, "unique" to others. Or for a more mellow example, I saw different kinds of fabrics used for pocket bags and different selvage lines used that I hadn't seen before. Is it really that complicated to understand how a person could already have favorite-fitting/favorite-fading/favorite-fabric pairs of jeans and just be looking for something with different details to break up his wardrobe? Really?

 

[masterllama]

Originally Posted by whodini

Again, it all depends on your take of the word "unique." Step outside of the SF thought process of "unique=better quality." Like I wrote before, there were a number of boutique labels that I'd seen in the book I previously linked, as well as in other publications, that offered details that I had not seen done with other brands.

Evisu puts daicocks on their jeans; hideous to some, "unique" to others. Or for a more mellow example, I saw different kinds of fabrics used for pocket bags and different selvage lines used that I hadn't seen before.

Is it really that complicated to understand how a person could already have favorite-fitting/favorite-fading/favorite-fabric pairs of jeans and just be looking for something with different details to break up his wardrobe? Really?

Nono, i totally agree and understand where you're coming from.

What i was pointing out was that unless one happens to be traveling to japan and gets to hunt down these special stores and try them on and purchase, its very difficult to obtain them.

I'm simply commending kiya as well as BiG for bringing some of these brands to america and giving some of us non-travelers an excellent opportunity to wear jeans that we would otherwise never have access to. IMO they do an excellent job bringing a fairly large selection of different companies and representing the japanese market. you really can't expect them to bring every niche jean to america.

if you can make it to japan, great. if not, enjoy SE/BiG

 

[whodini]

Originally Posted by masterllama

Nono, i totally agree and understand where you're coming from.

What i was pointing out was that unless one happens to be traveling to japan and gets to hunt down these special stores and try them on and purchase, its very difficult to obtain them.
Ehh.... but to begin with that was the OP's question. ASSUMING YOU'RE GOING TO JAPAN...

C'mon, ffs.

For as big of a brand as PBJ is on the internet, their store is tiny. It's an on-going joke on here and on sufu that even WITH a map it is next to impossible to find stores in Japan regardless of whatever kind of e-clout thrown around about them.

Gordon and Kiya do a fine job of finding great jeans to stock in their stores but it's obviously impossible to stock everything. That was my original point with Kiya and to the OP: if you already know what you can get your hands on in the US, why wouldn't you try to go for something more obscure if that's what your heart was set on? Why should anyone feel the need to settle for the obvious choices given the means for more options?

 

[wiru]

lee repro/reissues
bru na boinne
omnigod
kato