ooe yofukuten & co. denim contest

[aho]

They just look like any well worn heavily washed jeans to me.

 

^Exactly what I love about them!

[aho]

Ooe's and White's...All I need in my closet...

[jyoni]

Theeeere's ignaurus.  Baby's looking good man!

 

Satchel, you're right, any and all of these denim contests would be so much better if the distances between people weren't so great.  Seeing all the pairs in person would be awesome.

 

hoggreaser, I forgot to upload for you but I have those pics    I'll post them in the main thread.  I took them while sorting out my final contest shots, so similar presentation.

[aho]

pretty darn excited for my trip to ooe's studio this coming friday.

will be asking which pair thus far is their favorite.

 

its been ten months since my last visit.

 

slugabed! how'd it go?

[slugabed]

my trip went great, had a great time there.

didnt take any pictures since many of the sewing machines at ooe are confidential.

made some adjustments to my current order and changing the fabric to 92, and its deadline is unknown...

might be another half year or so?

i also ordered a plain old 02 model with OA fabric, which might be produced before my ongoing order.

 

other than denim stuff, ryo and i discussed how japanese vintage before WW2 was produced.

saw some of their new products, too

 

lastly had dinner with them and heard about the direction they are heading towards.

and some confidential stuff.

 

to some it up, it was a great trip to see them being busy as usual

but at the same trying tons of stuff other than denim.

[beautiful_FrEaK]

In short: is it possible for people not visiting their workshop to order a pair of their jeans?

[Quoise1203]

Aho, I was just thinking that your pair might be the cleanest pair of jeans ever to be completely destroyed!

[slugabed]

they no longer take custom orders.

thus all the orders which requires to create a brand new dress pattern are not accepted.

they do accept orders for basic patterns, but they cant promise when those orders will be finished.

it pretty much depend on when they have time to produce large number of them at once.

 

my ongoing custom order will be produced, since i placed the order before they stopped accepting them.

and the plain old 02 model might be produced rather quickly, since there is almost no stock available for even the basic model.

i asked them to cut the pair to the exact length i want it to be.

 

well, i guess some people are upset with the fact that ooe isnt as active as they were before,

but the new products they are planning and what they seem to be pursuing are both very interesting.

 

i cant talk much about the new stuff since they told me not to, so i will keep it there...

Edited March 19, 2014 by slugabed

[beautiful_FrEaK]

I "ordered" last October or so...nothing fancy. Just the 02 cut with XX details in their OA fabric.

Well, I'm still looking forward to what they have in their pipeline

[slugabed]

i ordered my custom order mid may, almost a whole year ago.

so seems like yours are going to take a while...

and i believe there are people waiting much longer than me.

 

a "mass production" seems the only way to get a pair from ooe now.

nothing against it though... doing bespoke for all these people was already ridiculous anyway.

[rayw44]

I'm surprised there are so few votes in the picture thread so far. 23 does not seem like many at all.

[setterman]

waiting to make up my mind before voting.  

[Broark]

Yeah, I'm waiting until the last possible second to vote!

[exaptavist]

.

Edited October 10, 2015 by hoggreaser

[slugabed]

you could say that its a bad service, but at the end its ryo and hiro doing every thing.

and on the other side, there are bunch of customers who either do not make up their mind and prolong the production, or evaporate at the middle of discussion.

not saying every body is like that... but heard bunch of stories.

hence this seems like an ideal outcome. plus there was already an hardship communicating with people all over the world not understanding ooe's environment.

 

not trying to deny you, but just stating my perspective on ooe...

Edited March 20, 2014 by slugabed

[aho]

Not defending anything that has happened and certainly understand the frustration on all ends...At the end of the day, they are two people pursuing their passion/craft in a small workshop in the boonies of Japan...It's impressive how they've grown in popularity and with their success it's easy to understand how they'd eventually need to make a decision such as this. I can only hope that they are working on a more efficient way to deliver their product and that they continue to expand their product line (tops, non-5 pocket denim, etc.) eventually making it re-accessible around the world. I have no idea what they have up their sleeves but this is my guess; and either way, the wait is worth it!

 

slugabed, any word on what they think of the final pairs, personal favorites, etc?

[Broark]

It's disappointing to think I'll probably never get a full blown custom pair from Ooe, but I also understand the logistics and how unrealistic things can be with a two person operation.

I would love to see them grow and continue producing some great denim though!

[slugabed]

as for their favorite pair, ryo said its quite difficult to compare pairs with totally different details.

and some of the pairs are yet to be posted.

 

well, the least we can do for ooe is to appreciate what they have done for us thus far,

and hope them best for whatever they are trying to do from now on.

even though the numbers of production might be very low at times, the outcome has always surprised us.

[satchelbmoore]

as for their favorite pair, ryo said its quite difficult to compare pairs with totally different details.

and some of the pairs are yet to be posted.

 

that's it???

[aho]

as for their favorite pair, ryo said its quite difficult to compare pairs with totally different details.

and some of the pairs are yet to be posted.

 

LOL a perfectly Japanese answer...thanks slugabed! wish I could make it out there someday too...

[slugabed]

@satchelbmoore

well my purpose for the visit wasnt to identify their most favorite pair.

so thats about the only information i have.

 

if you really want to know the answer, go on and ask them yourselves.

i believe ooe will respond you with the same answer.

 

@aho

the answer again, is totally ooe.

and thats why i like it

[Max Power]

Sad News regarding the custom options. Now I wish I would have gotten a pair from them back then when it was possible. I see how they got busy with the high demand, but killing the custom option seems like giving up one major part of the brand's core and fascination.

 

(I see the business or practical part behind this decision, but I don't think it adds to the brand's unique identity neither. And in a market with many players this might be a bad decision in the long run).

Edited March 20, 2014 by Max Power

[Maynard Friedman]

Custom options are great for the customer but not the manufacturer, unless they charge a premium for opportunity cost of reduced standard output, which makes the option more expensive and less attractive. Ande Whall discovered this and moved away from custom production a few years ago.

It may be useful for small companies to help establish a reputation based on quality early but is not always sustainable in the longer term.

[slugabed]

Am i the only one who thinks that even with basic pattern, the details thought out by ryo and sewn by hiro is the uniqueness of ooe yofukuten.

Yes its sad that custom options are gone, but the pairs are still way much better than most of the denim brands all around the world.

Do not forget that ooe isnt a repro denim, truly original.

[Broark]

I think even with basic patterns Ooe will continue to produce great things, but for me seeing the envelopment of this thread and seeing the individual custom details has made me really want a individualized pair.  

For me that's just one of the things that made Ooe very unique and seem like a true passion driven business.

No matter how long the wait or if there is a premium.  It's just kinda sad to see them go away from that, that's all.

[ranonranonarat]

i can't say how much i'm gutted that i can no longer pick up a custom pair from ooe but realistically speaking they are TWO people, on top of the language barrier which already exists. there just isn't enough time for everything. i'm sure they would have loved to keep the custom option going if they could but at end of the day if they were going that route, it really would've ended up being a small bunch of people getting to enjoy their stuff (since they will constantly be on a backlog process) rather than the masses having access to it. 

[Max Power]

True. I'm not saying that OOE do less quality when they do the standard patterns, but there are a lot of other standard options for those who want a good pair of jeans.

 

OOE's unique offer were the custom options and this was a fact that could be "recognized" by the customer. The Person who sew a pair of Jeans is (IMO) nothing that is noticeable, at least when we're talking high end denim.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like R&H and their work, but fear they give up a major part of their identity.

[rayw44]

Am i the only one who thinks that even with basic pattern, the details thought out by ryo and sewn by hiro is the uniqueness of ooe yofukuten.

Yes its sad that custom options are gone, but the pairs are still way much better than most of the denim brands all around the world.

Do not forget that ooe isnt a repro denim, truly original.

I agree with you entirely on this point. My customization in this contest was basically adding a cinch back, and not much else. Even without the cinch back, these would be my go-to pair of jeans. The contest is over, and I still find myself grabbing these day in and day out beacuse of the little details, the denim, and the overall feel of the product.

[bod]

I "ordered" last October or so...nothing fancy. Just the 02 cut with XX details in their OA fabric.

Well, I'm still looking forward to what they have in their pipeline

Are they going to standardise on just using the OA fabric?

[redragon]

Did not do much custom work for this competition as I want to enjoy the basic pattern fully.

Needless to say, it is a beautiful piece of work.

The details they still put into it makes it my favorite pairs (especially the bump on the stitching at the front pocket)

I will not mind ordering the basic cut from them again, the AO fabric is really compelling....