Uniqlo/Kaihara denim article

[chad]

Uniqlo's Paper No 2 has just come out and there is a great article on denim based around an interview with the owner of Kaihara.

Here it is...

It's in the Jeans

An inside look at what makes uniqlo denim so special

Writing: James Santos

Photography: Ikuma Yamada

To riff on psychoanalysis, a pair of jeans is never just a pair of jeans. It's more like a diary of what you do and where you've been, a physical subconscious collecting memories in the form of stains, scents, and scars. Which is probably why UNIQLO cares so much about making quality denim. For them, every single detail needs to be absolutely perfect - from the color and cut to the threads and denim itself.

The man behind UNIQLO's denim infatuation is what the Japanese call otaku - he is obsessed with denim and has spent his entire life working with some of the most important denim companies in the world. Two years ago he was invited to join UNIQLO and give its denim line a new edge, and despite his preference for anonymity he was glad to share some of his philosophies behind a perfect pair of jeans.

I met "the man behind the denim" in a small room at UNIQLO HQ in Tokyo, and he brought along a huge bag exploding with samples of his autumn designs. As we talked he occasionally dipped into the bag and yanked out a pair of jeans, showing me everything from ultra-tapered cuts and cascading bell-bottoms for women to high-quality selvedge denim for men. Everything, he explained, is meant to fit in all the right places; it's supposed to look good. "Denim started out as work wear," he said while holding up a pair of bell-bottoms. "But now it's a huge part of fashion, so you can bring in fashionable elements, too."

Besides excellent cuts, one of the biggest differences between UNIQLO and other brands is that UNIQLO uses threads, rivets, buttons, and denim that are actually made in Japan, according to extra-high standards of quality. "Denim is like wine," the man behind the denim explained: "You start out with something raw and end up with something unique. But to have the best wine, you need to have the best ingredients. The same goes for a pair of jeans."

That said, after visiting UNIQLO HQ, I went down to Hiroshima to visit Kaihara, which the man behind the denim described not modestly as "the greatest denim mill in the world."

Kaihara is hidden far to the northeast of Hiroshima, up twisting mountain roads and through tiny antique towns. When I arrive, I was met by Kaihara-san himself, the owner of the mill; he was wearing a custom-made denim tuxedo. Before I could even ask him a question, he said, "Japanese denim is a big industry now. But before Japanese denim, there was Kaihara denim."

It's a bold statement, for sure, but Kaihara dates back four generations and so do its textile-making secrets. Founded in 1893, the company originally farmed indigo plants and made indigo dyes that were used in kimonos. As denim became more and more essential to blue-collar worker wear, the need for indigo increased, too. That's when the company made their own rope-dying machines, making them the original manufacturers of Japanese denim. By the early 1970s, Kaihara had developed some of the best denim recipes around and they were producing denim for the biggest jeans company in the world, and American label with a little red tab on the back pocket.

Fast-forward to today, and and Kaihara makes around 400 different types of denim, in all sorts of colors, thread counts, textures, and fabric blends. They're also always in the process of developing new styles. But after touring the Kaihara mill, I understood that it isn't just quantity that makes Kaihara appeal to UNIQLO. It's quality.

Kaihara takes steps to ensure its denim is of the highest quality possible, steps that most other mills bypass. For instance, the actual threads Kaihara uses to weave its denim are much stronger than average and can withstand all the abuse that comes with wearing a pair of jeans. That's because the threads are spun and respun a total of 64 times, to ensure the strongest possible blend of cottons from Greece, Australia, and America. For most mills this is costly and time-consuming. For Kaihara it's necessity.

The dyeing process is also quite special. Because the threads are so strong, the can hold more dye, and Kaihara uses a unique rope-dying method to create a richer color that lasts longer. Wound up like rope, the denim thread is pulled up and down a massive roller-coaster structure, where it is first washed to remove any leftover dirt or oil and then run through a dumpster-sized vat filled with indigo dye. From there it is pulled up again and rolled back down into another dye vat. Since the threads are so thick and strong, the process can be repeated at least ten times. And because the whole apparatus is so large, many mills can't compete with this method at all.

To be sure the denim they make is of the highest quality possible and will last the way it should, Kaihara's research and development team performs loads of tests on every single fabric they create. From washing and stone-washing to ripping and weighing, Kaihara tests every element of its denim, so they know it will live up to human wear and tear. Kaihara-san explains, "Ten people could buy a pair of the same jeans, but they would all wear it for different jobs. They all wash it differently. They all treat it differently. I want to know their jeans will hold up the way they should."

After a long day at the mill, Kaihara-san and his team took me out for a dinner at a catch-of-the-day sushi place. Kaihara-san had changed out of his tuxedo and into a cardigan and an old beat-up pair of jeans. When we finished eating, I stood up to thanks them, and it seemed like the first time Kaihara-san noticed my faded and filthy, patchwork jeans. He pointed and asked, "How long?" Among true denim geeks, not washing your jeans is the purest thing you can do, and Kaihara-san was asking how long it had been since I last washed them. "Maybe a couple years," I said. The I glanced at his jeans and realized for the first time how weird it was for someone my grandfather's age to be wearing such good-looking jeans, so I threw the question back at him. Without a pause, he smiled and said, "529 days." He actually measured it by the day. If that's not attention to detail, I don't know what is.

[chad]

i totally want to see a picture of the denim tuxedo!

[Chicken]

great article. thanks chad.

i feel like i have to make a denim trip to hiroshima and okayama one of these days.

[fallen angels]

interesting read, thanks. i love this quote:

"Denim is like wine," the man behind the denim explained: "You start out with something raw and end up with something unique. But to have the best wine, you need to have the best ingredients. The same goes for a pair of jeans."

[schmallo15]

great article!

[LordOak]

nice read. thanks alot.

[imperial]

wow, great article.

[homi29]

i love that uniqlo gives out free copies of this mag, i love it..

now only if they opened a store in Canada.. fuck

[TheJonesBoy]

Thanks for taking time to post this - great read.

[salaami]

when has not washing jeans been the "most-natural" thing to do to a pair of jeans? i dont get it...

ps: this is NOT to rehash an old, cancelled thread, just asking.

[rome1]

that picture of the swatches room looks like something out of the Matrix.

[Charlie Delta]

...the first time Kaihara-san noticed my faded and filthy, patchwork jeans. He pointed and asked, "How long?" Among true denim geeks, not washing your jeans is the purest thing you can do, and Kaihara-san was asking how long it had been since I last washed them. "Maybe a couple years," I said. The I glanced at his jeans and realized for the first time how weird it was for someone my grandfather's age to be wearing such good-looking jeans, so I threw the question back at him. Without a pause, he smiled and said, "529 days." He actually measured it by the day. If that's not attention to detail, I don't know what is.

Now that this is bumped anyway,

when reading this I just assumed that the writer understood wrong and Kaihara-san was actually talking about how many days of wear, not how many days without washing.

But that's just me....

[krakatu]

Thanks a lot for this good article. Even tough you have posted this a long time ago....the knowledge from it is so precious

[aho]

errr awkward bump but a fun read nonetheless...I agree with mr. duck two years later in saying that when Kaihara-san asked "how long", he most likely meant how many days of wear, not how many days of not washing...