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The Finish Line Is In Sight, Plus Custom Japanese Selvedge Jeans and Some Heavyweight Drops
I’ve said this many times before: what got me hooked on raw denim more than anything was the fades. The jeans aren’t “finished” when you put them on; you do the finishing. That magical transformation takes sweat, blood and tears—sometimes literally in the first few weeks, but it’s totally worth it.
Watching the denim change has always mattered more to me than showing off the result. But having other denimheads recognise my achievements does feel good. I imagine that’s what it feels like to show up for the first beach day of the season with the six-pack you worked on all winter.
Fading competitions make that personal obsession communal. There have been a few great ones over the years, but nothing as well-organised and inclusive as the Indigo Invitational. It’s easy to join and, relatively speaking, easy to finish. And while you should do it for the fades, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with going for the podium. Next week, Year 5 of the competition is in the books.
In This Issue of the DH Weekly
- SOSOBROTHERS Japanese Selvedge – Now available to order
- Tellason x Barnes & Moore – Full-grain leather, British-made, $189
- Indigo Invitational – Final submissions close September 7th
- Long John x Red Wing – A limited-edition anniversary project revealed September 26th
- Brave Star – Heavyweight and herringbone drops, restocks and pre-orders
- Gustin – 18 oz. selvedge for $149
- Other Things Worth Your Attention – Two sales, new denim, boots, shirts and more
- Building My Brand – Solving a sizing problem
- From the Archive – The SOSOBROTHERS buying guide
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SOSOBROTHERS: The Japanese Selvedge Is Here
Last week I broke the story. Today they’re live.
SOSOBROTHERS bought 100 metres of each Japanese denim, and there’s no guarantee either comes back.
If one caught your eye last week, you can order it now. And if you didn’t have a look yet, click through and start with the story.
Tellason: Your Jeans Deserve a Proper Belt
The idea is pretty simple: a proper leather belt made in England by Barnes & Moore, using full-grain J&FJ Baker leather that’s oak-bark tanned for 12 months, with hand-cast copper hardware.
Pete Searson has worn his for three years without oiling it. On its own, that makes a pretty convincing case to get one—but I’d still suggest you read the story first.
Indigo Invitational: Final Submission by Sep 7
If you’re still chasing that podium, here’s the practical bit: final submissions close September 7th at 23:59 Tokyo time. No late submissions, so if you miss it, you literally stumbled right before the finish line.
You need four photos: two unedited updates, front and back, plus two highlight shots. Don’t make the collage yourself—the Indigo Invitational will handle that (in other words, Bryan does that for you).
I’m back on the judging panel this year. If you want your photos to stand out, our photo guide is worth a read before you shoot and share.
Long John: 15 Years and a Pair of Red Wings
Wouter Munnichs and I started our sites in the same year, and I’ll admit that in the beginning I probably saw him more as a rival than anything else. Fifteen years later, I think of us much more as colleagues—and good friends.
One thing Wouter is much better at than me is shamelessly promoting what he does. I mean that entirely as a compliment. I wish I were better at it. So, naturally, he isn’t letting Long John’s 15th anniversary pass quietly.
To celebrate it, he’s doing a limited-edition Red Wing project that will be revealed at Black & Blue on September 26th. Reading between the lines of the announcement, it sounds like an existing pair of Red Wings reworked with a denim element, using denim from Denim.lab and involving an official Red Wing repair specialist.
Read the story here—and subscribe to Wouter’s newsletter to stay in the loop.
Brave Star: Going Heavy
Brave Star has been unusually busy lately. On a recent call, Mik gave me some useful context: Japanese selvedge is getting harder to secure consistently, which helps explain the constant flow of drops, restocks and pre-orders.
From the latest batch, these are the ones I’d look at:
- 23 oz. Colossus – Kaihara denim woven in a 4×4 construction rather than the usual 3×1. Pre-order in three fits.
- Reaper Heritage Black (21.5 oz.) – Black warp with a natural weft. Heavy, but not black-on-black. Pre-order.
- Blizzard Nep Panhead (10 oz.) – Lightweight neppy selvedge in the loose buckle-back fit. Pre-order.
- Brownstone Ironside (13 oz.) – Indigo warp, brown weft. 50 jackets, in stock now.
- Herringbone Mojave Western Cut (13 oz.) – In stock now, but only 72 pairs.
- Herringbone Die Hard Double Knee (14 oz.) – Herringbone in the double-knee workwear fit. Pre-order.
Gustin: 18 oz. Selvedge for $149
Ever since I published my guide to heavyweight selvedge jeans last autumn, it’s been one of the steadiest performers on the site. And Gustin keeps putting out more of it.
The One Eight is 18 oz. raw selvedge with a dark indigo warp, white weft, slub yarns and red selvedge ID. At $149, that’s a lot of denim for the money—and a pretty straightforward place to start if you want to try heavyweight.
I’ve reviewed their jeans in two of Gustin’s core selvedge denims, so if you’re not sure what to expect from the brand, start there.
Also worth a look: the Japan Loose Slub, the Japan Broken Twill, and the 12 oz. Vintage Corduroy Workshirt.
Other Things Worth Your Attention
- Three heavy drops at Franklin & Poe – The Buzz Rickson’s 1941 Aero A-2 is back in stock for the first time in over a year, three new cuts in Oni’s 15 oz. green-cast selvedge have arrived, and Red Wing has finally added the Iron Ranger 8000 in Oro Legacy to the Heritage line—and it’s now at Franklin & Poe.
- The New Japan Blue at Redcast Heritage – Rebranded and relaunched with a new 12 oz. sanforized selvedge line in Wide Straight, Straight, and Slim Straight, plus a Type II jacket with blue cowhide patch and blue selvedge ID.
- New at Brooklyn Clothing – First FW26 Merz b. Schwanen delivery, Studio D’Artisan’s new Ishikawadai Regular Straight and 15 oz. Relaxed Wide Straight, plus the 21 oz. Iron Heart 777 returning September 1st at 9am MST in indigo and overdyed indigo.
- The Ripper Shirt from KATO – Heritage double-pocket shirt in triple-twisted plaid, back for the season.
- New arrivals at Cultizm – Rogue Territory wax canvas, 3sixteen sashiko, Kaptain Sunshine black denim, Unmarked Boondockers, Warehouse limited 30th-anniversary S1003XX WWII jeans in Kurabo denim, new orSlow and fatigue pant restock, Fortela washed Japanese selvedge, and Cultizm’s first womenswear after more than 20 years. Phew!
- 20% off selected items at Cultizm – Use code SALE20 at checkout.
- Two picks at Hinoya – The Burgus Plus Lot.955, natural indigo selvedge in the 1955 model; and an A Vontade x Hinoya exclusive, a 14 oz. 1937 selvedge wide fit built from deadstock denim.
- 15% off at Self Edge this weekend – Everything except Iron Heart, Good Art, and hems/repairs is 15% off through September 1st at 9am PDT. Use code summer26 online.
- Göteborg Manufaktur x Indigofera blanket – To mark ten years in business, the Gothenburg shop made a limited wool blanket with Indigofera, woven in Norway by Røros Tweed from 100% Norwegian wool.
- Heddels on when to wash your raw denim – A useful take on the question nobody agrees on. If you want my take on it, check out the washing and denim care guides.
Building My Brand: Solving the Sizing Problem
One of the hardest things about selling jeans online is that I can’t do what I do in a shop.
When I’m working at the store in Copenhagen, I can look at someone and make a pretty good guess at their size. I know which fit will probably work for them, which won’t, and why. That kind of guidance disappears the moment you move online—and for a brand like Weirloom, where the jeans are a considered purchase and sizing matters, that’s a real problem.
What I’ve done so far is provide detailed measurements for every size, which works well. But it puts a lot of work on the customer.
I’d been looking for a better solution since before I launched. Virtusize was already on my radar—it’s what Nudie and plenty of other established brands use. I even reached out to them, but at the time it was enterprise-level software. For a startup brand on Shopify like Weirloom, it simply wasn’t an option.
Then they got back in touch. They were building a Shopify version and asked if I wanted to help shape it. I gave them feedback along the way, they implemented several of my suggestions, and now it’s live on the Weirloom webshop—and available to other Shopify stores too.
What it does is pretty simple: instead of asking you to measure yourself, Virtusize lets you enter your height and weight and shows you how a pair of Weirloom jeans will fit. No tape measure required.
If you run a Shopify shop and sell anything where fit matters, it’s worth looking at.
Disclosure: Virtusize gave me complimentary access during the trial period, and that continues for now. This isn’t sponsored. I’ve been looking for a solution like this for a long time, and this is the best one I’ve found for the online fit problem—especially for Shopify stores.
From the Archive: SOSOBROTHERS Buying Guide
If the Japanese selvedge release has you looking at SOSOBROTHERS for the first time, start here.
The guide walks you through the made-to-order process, fits, measurements, fabrics and lead times—basically the things I’d want to know before placing an order.
The post Why Raw Denim Becomes a Hobby, Passion, and Obsession appeared first on Denimhunters.
DENIM and PATCHES sourced this post originally published on this site