Pics of the Japanese made Kicking Mule

[v84]

"Made of Zimbabwean cotton, rope dyed in Natural Indigo, fabric produced and tailored in Okayama Prefecture Japan."

£275!!!!! Thats actually pretty reasonable for natural indigo jeans like this, but yeah, they WOULD be "must have's except for the coin pocket selvedge. Ugh, fold that **** over, just having the edges poking out is much more understated and cool.

220 is a more than reasonable price for these then.

 

[PG2G]

I'm thinking that Natural Indigo part is a mistake. There has to be a reason that other pair is $600+, and I don't think slub alone is it.

 

[LA Guy]

Originally Posted by PG2G

I'm thinking that Natural Indigo part is a mistake. There has to be a reason that other pair is $600+, and I don't think slub alone is it.

Um, there is at least one jean out there in the $200-300 range that use natural and synthetic indigo mixtures that just don't advertise the fact... Just fyi.

 

[v84]

LA guy- synthetic and natural? You implying canes? The cheaper lots of hawaiis etc? Superfuture/Ringring posts have established that there isnt a whole lot of difference between natural and synthetic anyhow. Search SF for reasons why. Even if they are totally synthetic they are still a damn nice jean, what with all the other qualities etc etc

 

[LA Guy]

Originally Posted by v84

LA guy- synthetic and natural? You implying canes? The cheaper lots of hawaiis etc? Superfuture/Ringring posts have established that there isnt a whole lot of difference between natural and synthetic anyhow. Search SF for reasons why. Even if they are totally synthetic they are still a damn nice jean, what with all the other qualities etc etc

Among others. Actually, synthetic dyes can replicate the effects of natural, but the converse is not true. Natural indigo can't dye as uniformly dark, nor can it give the black cast that is particularly popular now, for example. A lot of people are surprised at how bright in tone and relatively light colored natural indigo dyed jeans tend to be.

 

[v84]

"Some people tell me that natural indigo fades quicker, and that you can't achieve as dark blues with plant indigos, others have told me the opposite. " - Ring Ring.

Hope he doesnt mind me quoting him, infact im not sure if its cool to quote from other forums anyway?

Im straying miles away from topic here. Maybe I should bump the natural vs synthetic thread over on SuFu.

LA Guy - If you could expain why naturals tend to be unable to achieve a dark saturation please do. PM me or post where appropriate. Is it something to do with the impuritys in natural? I think some people who bought the 19oz onis mentioned they were not as dark as they expected.

 

[Stylin-1]

Well, I got them yesterday. Here's a quick rundown. They do appear to be a little lighter than my Nudies. Perhaps this is due to the natural indigo then? On the other hand, the denim is definitely more interesting than Nudie, less uniform in color maybe? Tough to really put into words. The selvedge coin pocket is kinda' lame, but I can deal with it. Hardware and detailing are absolutely sick. On par with 5EP or maybe a small notch above. The hem seam is very small and tight, which I like. Narrow, long belt loops are a plus. Lots of selvedge, red on the left side of the fly, blue on the right (not a plus or minus). Hidden rivets, doughnut buttons, ala 5EP. One area where it exceeds 5EP is the inside details, such as the whole Zimbabwean cotton, natural indigo, Okayama Prefecture, Japan spiel on the left inside pocket. The whole inside branding/tagging is a little more "finished" on the KMW. Fit wise, they're pretty true. On the slim side, but not crazy skinny. I do need to stretch the thighs a tiny bit....I'm working them over now. Waist is perfect. Rise is 10, hem is 8. One thing I noticed right away, is the back pockets are LOW. Lower than my RRDS. Feels weird with my wallet hitting so low on my thigh. Overall, I'm pretty happy with them....just wish I could lose the coin pocket.

 

[Ott]

pics

you tease

 

[Brian SD]

Originally Posted by v84

"Some people tell me that natural indigo fades quicker, and that you can't achieve as dark blues with plant indigos, others have told me the opposite. " - Ring Ring.

Hope he doesnt mind me quoting him, infact im not sure if its cool to quote from other forums anyway?

Im straying miles away from topic here. Maybe I should bump the natural vs synthetic thread over on SuFu.

LA Guy - If you could expain why naturals tend to be unable to achieve a dark saturation please do. PM me or post where appropriate. Is it something to do with the impuritys in natural? I think some people who bought the 19oz onis mentioned they were not as dark as they expected.

Natural indigo is never perfectly pure the same way synthetic indigo is, and iirc it does not saturate the cotton to the core the same way that synthetic does, which is why it is never incredibly dark. It also doesn't seem to fade with as much contrast as synthetic indigo does - if you've ever seen a faded pair of naturals, they're always a very light blue with some lighter blue whiskers, but nothing like what we see with 100% pure indigo, where the fades are white or yellow and there are still areas where the indigo has retained 80% or more of its color.

 

[v84]

Thanks brian, thats kinda what I was guessing, that its the impurities that prevent a deep ( dark ) penetration of the cotton, so the jeans end up looking lighter- thinking PBJs naturals are lighter than their synthetics, the same seems to go for Oni, samurai etc etc

Pics of these badass Kicking Mules?

 

[afaludi]

I just picked up a pair at the denim bar, I agree with everything that stylin said, but not only are the pockets low but also rather large. I like the slimmer fit through the thigh and into the knee, I think it gives a nicer look. pics to come, im gonna need to borrow a camera or use the phone.

 

[poly800rock]

Originally Posted by LA Guy

Among others. Actually, synthetic dyes can replicate the effects of natural, but the converse is not true. Natural indigo can't dye as uniformly dark, nor can it give the black cast that is particularly popular now, for example. A lot of people are surprised at how bright in tone and relatively light colored natural indigo dyed jeans tend to be.

after spending like 2 hours to read the entire natural indigo thread on superfuture and also just receiving my natural indigo oni's, i'd have to say natural indigo isn't always a lighter shade. In looking at my oni's in particular i'd agree it's not uniform, but that i attribute more to the unevenness of the weave as opposed to the dye. I've read that the "darkness" is all dependent on how many times the cotton is dyed. Which finally makes sense hearing so many times that indigo as a chemical compound isn't water soluble and how you get your fade is basically abrasion....so why you hear that natural indigo is so hard to get a contrast fade (either it's dipped too little ie sugarcane or too many times like oni's or jomon's) it makes sense to me now.

 

[LA Guy]

Originally Posted by poly800rock

after spending like 2 hours to read the entire natural indigo thread on superfuture and also just receiving my natural indigo oni's, i'd have to say natural indigo isn't always a lighter shade. In looking at my oni's in particular i'd agree it's not uniform, but that i attribute more to the unevenness of the weave as opposed to the dye. I've read that the "darkness" is all dependent on how many times the cotton is dyed. Which finally makes sense hearing so many times that indigo as a chemical compound isn't water soluble and how you get your fade is basically abrasion....so why you hear that natural indigo is so hard to get a contrast fade (either it's dipped too little ie sugarcane or too many times like oni's or jomon's) it makes sense to me now.

You can have very dark natural indigo jeans, very painstakingly made, with numerous dips, but show me how dark they are, and I can make a darker pair using a synthetic indigo dye. The difference really is that in a synthetic dye, I can alter the chemical composition of the dye components to get better saturation. I can also make a naturally darker dye more easily. Natural indigo is natural indigo. You are stuck with what nature gave you.

 

[PG2G]

I guess Somet would be another example of not so expensive natural indigo.

 

[poly800rock]

Originally Posted by PG2G

I guess Somet would be another example of not so expensive natural indigo.


somet, sda, almost every popular japanese brand has had an AI jean. I'd go as far as say ones that are "lighter" are an exception....