Unknown Japanese Brands

[Lorcan]

6 hours ago, Broark said:

@Lorcan I think you’ve ordered directly from Neat Style before correct?
I’ve been interested in the jeans from Little Hand and the model they have looks nice!

Only ordered/preordered from them via proxy which is what he prefers. 

Yeah the ‘error edition’ Little Hand did for Lua were really too much for me, but the Neat Style model looks promising.

[Broark]

2 hours ago, MJF9 said:

But delivery from Jan 2026 for lil hands and 1.5 yrs wait for a BOT '37 pair!! CSF vibes

I think a ~6 month lead time is fairly reasonable, but 1.5 years on the other hand is a little much.
I remember when I got my BoT and it only took ~3 month.

50 minutes ago, Lorcan said:

Only ordered/preordered from them via proxy which is what he prefers. 

Yeah the ‘error edition’ Little Hand did for Lua were really too much for me, but the Neat Style model looks promising.

Good to know, thanks! Yeah those were definitely a bit over the top, but the Neat Style offering is much more tasteful. Might try out a pair. 

[Lorcan]

I’ve got about 12 months still to wait on a BoT 506xx 💀

[Lorcan]

On 7/11/2025 at 7:42 AM, beautiful_FrEaK said:

Mepse has a new 47 model (early 50s) on offer:

https://mepse.base.shop/items/all

But his releases are also getting way more expensive with each release

How do you like the 66 model you got from him out of curiosity?

[beautiful_FrEaK]

26 minutes ago, Lorcan said:

How do you like the 66 model you got from him out of curiosity?

Wasn't too impressed with the BigE model he made. It's long been sold.

But I am pretty certain he improved since then. Also in terms of used materials

[indigoeagle]

The current prices of Slash Overalls.

From his site:
S01XX WWII (LF 44 12.5oz) and 1947 (SO02 (NP02) 12oz): JPY 44,000, 46,200  and JPY 48,400 (might depend on size or customer specifications)

S06XX   1946 (LF 44 12.5oz): JPY 61,600
S06XXe 1946 (LF 44 12.5oz): JPY 66,000
S06XX  1946 (SO02 (NP02) 12oz): JPY 67,100

S06XX   WWII (NP01 12oz): JPY 63,800
S06XXe WWII (NP01 12oz): JPY 66,000

I couldn't find the prices for today's sale event at Barnstormers Gotemba.

For Junky Classics Yokohama next Sunday July 20th the following products and prices are stated:

"regular line" S002:
Jeans- JPY 44,000 to 50,600 (depending on size)
Jacket:  JPY 64,900 to 69,300 (depending on size)

(Edited after reading again).
He also has two fabrics recently developed, LF44B and SL01, that he refers to as XX Grade. These are limited in number.

LF44B
jeans. size 34 and 36: JPY 77,000

jacket: 42 and 49: JPY 99,000

Apparently the fabric LF44B will be shown at the Junky Classics offering for the first time.

And then the SL01 fabric:
Rough war period denim with doshaburi vertical fading characteristics 
As discussed before the special development by Okamoto Texitile.

SL01 VINTAGE 2PRONG:
jeans (at the moment only jeans): JPY 143,000

The high price is apparently a.o. due to the 2 prong button, which was very difficult to produce.

Like at Barnstormers purchases at Junky Classics are limited to one jacket and one pair of pants per person.

Edited July 14 by indigoeagle

[ATWM]

I’ve admittedly still got a thing or two to learn about the corners of the repro denim world, but help enlighten me - what’s the unique appeal of Slash? Usually I can squint and see it - a particular detail combined with a particular fabric or pattern etc.

So far’s I can tell with Slash it just seems to be the hard to get ness of it. I’m sure I’m missing something - does the fabric look that special? The patterns just a little unique? The sewing a (different) personal touch than other one/two person makers? 

[indigoeagle]

25 minutes ago, ATWM said:

I’ve admittedly still got a thing or two to learn about the corners of the repro denim world, but help enlighten me - what’s the unique appeal of Slash? Usually I can squint and see it - a particular detail combined with a particular fabric or pattern etc.

So far’s I can tell with Slash it just seems to be the hard to get ness of it. I’m sure I’m missing something - does the fabric look that special? The patterns just a little unique? The sewing a (different) personal touch than other one/two person makers? 

I think, this a bit the standard phenomenon as with coffee, red wine, photography equipment, etc..
Like for some people say a Nudie Jeans jacket would be the same as a jacket from Slash Overalls. Which would be totally fine.
Depends what people are interested in. Somehow a number of people interested in denim- especially here on the forum, where they tend to arrive- evolve in interest from say Nudie/Edwin to Oni and others to more repro makers like WH, TCB, FWs, etc.. And then of special interest like Roy are the one man/small team jeans artisans like Ooe YFT, CSF, BOT and Slash Overalls- as has been described in various posts here before.

But back to your question- when I saw pictures of faded SO denim I got very interested. I started reading his blog then. And he has a very focused and uncompromising philosophy to be as close to the original vintage items as possible with regarding to fabric and also cut. His denim is a bit lighter with 12 and 12.5oz and now the newer one 13.5oz. And he had mentioned the ratios of the rises.
So that and the overall aesthetic impression that I get from his products got me interested.
But for sure, I have limits to what price I would pay. And also currently it seems nearly impossibe to buy one of his items, if you're not in Japan.

 

[Lorcan]

I'm sure rarity probably does factor in to the mystique.

But I would say the patterns are really good/ very vintage-y. Of the five 506XX's I own the Slash Overalls is probably my favourite cut. And as with indigoeagle I get the impression from his blog/insta that he is an obsessive with the patterns (among other things) and has his own philosophy as to what makes a good repro.

Slash also seems to develop some distinctive wrinkle and puckering fades (like on waistband, collar) that are a bit extra. You can see here https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck3NyL3PUod/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== or  https://www.instagram.com/p/DKEz7qUTl0c/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==   I really like it. Of course you can get some of that with other brands (my Tender denim jacket is developing some very tasty waistband crinkles) but it is part of the appeal.

 

[julian-wolf]

^ I think when I first took notice of them, I was drawn in particular to how strongly their denim puckered and twisted: it seemed super lively, which I love

That said, it was never enough to make up for how hard it was to purchase. That always feels like a turn off

[ATWM]

27 minutes ago, julian-wolf said:

it was never enough to make up for how hard it was to purchase. That always feels like a turn off

Yea, for me there's a certain sort of internet marketing that really does this as well.

I think I've said before I have a lot of sympathy for the grind that is the one person/small business trying to use social media to generate interest and a living - and the sort of pressures that puts on a business and compromises it may demand (not maybe in denim, but in ethos). But just to needle a bit here - being obsessive about patterns and having an uncompromising view of what a good repro is feels hardly unique in this corner, right? I mean, there are other makers with this sort of ethos, even if they land on something a little different - we've long ago concluded there is no *one true repro* for a given year even. 

But it's like 1) if this dude only wants people who can buy it in person, well alright. I can't do that. Respect to that demand, if it's got to do with him trying to ensure the fit is such and such or people really love it and will have a higher chance of beating it up, or connect to it more given the onus that is put on them for showing up  Or 2) if this is a way to generate internet interest and demand for a limited production item and ultimately charge a premium due to said demand then yea, no interest there either. The forum has a few examples of makers who have gotten a big following for their unique craftsmanship and then seemingly crumbled under their own hype, or started running a business in a way that is pretty askew from the sort of historical association that denim conjures. Admittedly, I do think my level of scrutinization of some things is a degree less - well, and maybe scrutinization of other things a degree higher ha. 

I can understand the best fitting jacket out of a bunch. The little differences in length or width here or there, on the sleeve or down the back or across the shoulder - it can really make all the difference if you've got a few to compare, but that's usually more a combination of the person + maker rather than either alone.

That said, I think I'm still not convinced that the hard to getness of it isn't the main thing. 

Which is fine.

Only going off internet pictures and measurements etc.

Perhaps one day I get to handle a pair in person and change my mind, but I doubt it.  

All of that said, this forum is way better obsessing about details than forums about photography equipment. Those places have almost been enough to make me disown my profession! So many words wasted on so little of what makes great photography - but I'll digress and keep it OT here. 

Edited July 13 by ATWM

[beautiful_FrEaK]

Funnily, I had the exact same discussion with @Broark already when I wanted to hear if his endeavours were successful. I am pretty certain the "hard to get"-aspect is definitely there. For some this might be a turn off and others will be just more motivated to be part of the "chosen cricle".

If we take a look at the famous one-man brands here like Slash, CSF, BoT, WMJ, rebuilt, Mepse, Little Hand and many more, I am certain they all want to achieve the perfect replica and will go lengths to achieve this (this is why I didn't include Roy, not so much of a repro guy).
So the question is, does one exceeds the others? It's one thing to talk about what he wants to create and if he really creates this. From those above and the ones I handled, Mepse was the most disappointing. They didn't feel special in any way. Slash for example has very little exposure not only in the West but you also won't find many examples in Japan. At least I didn't. When I read his IG post that his XX-grade models will be extraordinary expensive I would have thought it would be in the 80k Yen area. I never would have thought it will go over 100k. Broark already has a pair and can judge if those prices are worth it (for him). And if you know he offers the "perfect" pair, why should one settle with his cheaper lines

For a long time CSF was seen as the pinnacle of repro but nowadays, people don't really talk anymore of him. Probably mainly because you simply can't buy his stuff unless second hand or in Japan (and sometimes with a lottery system as well). It's interesting that Slash choses the same selling prohibition from the start.

[Broark]

Just to clarify, I don't have a pair of Slash's XX Grade jeans yet. Still working on that, and if I ever do I'll be sure to share them.
I've been wearing my pair of Slash S01XX jeans that I found on Yahoo for the last week, to me they feel very unique even in the limited production one man brand space.
There's something about the way he folds the fabric where different parts of the pattern overlap, it gives them a very three dimensional feeling that can't fully be portrayed through pictures. He's mentioned this on his blog in the past and I never understood it until I started wearing my pair. The only makers that I've seen do something similar are Roy and rebuilt. And his patterning is very good, the cut feels great in the short time that I've been wearing them. Pockets are usable, rise is ample, they feel like what I'd imagine a pair of vintage jeans should feel like. I think he also spends a lot of time and effort improving the fabric and materials used to make each pair. If you look at some of his work over the years it's gotten much more refined from when he first started.

From his blog it appears that he's been heavily invested in recreating vintage two prong buttons from scratch for the XX Grade line. Literally recreating machinery and button casts so that he can reproduce buttons for the small handful of jeans that he is able to make on his own. That's very dedicated, he's not a brand that can easily push out a few thousand pairs of jeans to justify the r&d costs associated.
Does this make them inherently better than other buttons on the market? I don't know, and Slash believes that the only way to understand the difference is to see them in person.

Is there an aspect of hype / limited availability to his concept? Absolutely, but I also don't think it's the main appeal. I think with almost any and every one man brand in this type of field it's intrinsic to keeping their product line alive and commercially viable.
I'm sure there might some people buying them for this reason alone, he's even blogged about how he doesn't want people to resell his products because of their limited nature (saying that he will ban anyone from purchasing from him again if he's able to track them down via the serial number printed on each pair).
I think he's very dedicated to his craft and he's trying to reproduce jeans in the most accurate way possible and he's cultivated a very dedicated fan base along the way.
I understand that the limited nature of his products will put some people off and that's totally understandable.

[Lorcan]

I’m still interested in CSF as a product as it still seems one of the better repros out there (and I missed the boat with it unfortunately) it’s just everything outside the physical product is a drag with CSF.

in other Junky Classics and one-man craftsman related news I hadn’t realised some of their JC Penney Pay Day repros are now made that way (but they don’t say who the maker is).

https://blog-classics.jugem.jp/?eid=3025#gsc.tab=0

[Broark]

Nice jacket there, wonder who made it for them.

[indigoeagle]

Is Payday a brand run by Junky Classics?
It could be its own company, no? Like Big Mike or Headlight (at Toyo).

Very nice reduced design of the WW2 model.

Edited July 14 by indigoeagle

[Dr_Heech]

10 hours ago, beautiful_FrEaK said:

...

For a long time CSF was seen as the pinnacle of repro but nowadays, people don't really talk anymore of him. Probably mainly because you simply can't buy his stuff unless second hand or in Japan (and sometimes with a lottery system as well).

People don't talk about him here because he's full of it 😂

Don't get me wrong, l love the 2 pairs of s409xxx that l own for the reasons explained in the Csf thread (and others) but l don't care for the brand or its creator.

Obviously some of that has to do with the sh*t that he and his 'legal team' threw at Denimseeker over so called copyright infringement when DS put out his Levi's Denim jackets book a few years back.

But there are other elements of csf that have more than just irked me since my introduction to them via the notorious Denim influencer, Double O Soul 😉 back in 2016.

Firstly, Yoshiaki's bullsh*t video explaining the one piece sleeve 506XX being made in 1946 Only. It is not that at all, just a production quirk which appeared on the jackets throughout its entire production. 

Secondly, his 'pattern-making' is a mere allusion towards the cut of 501's made in the 1940s. All his models have the same flowerpot top-block, tight front pockets and small back ones. No pair of vintage 501XX that l ever owned or saw, had that weird pattern shape.

Thirdly, his bullsh*t sizing. Most, if not all of the sizing information that was given by him to me previous to purchase was incorrect, yet l still purchased more, but bigger sizes. Started out with a 34, then 35, then 36 and now have 2x size 38's, one of which is bigger in the waist 🙃

 

 

Edited July 14 by Dr_Heech
Grammar lol

[Broark]

Yoshiaki really burned some bridges over the years, but I don't the the international community was ever important to him.
Seems like he's just gotten too big for his own britches in my opinion.
Hell, the guy has a fuckin' semi truck...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DH67plETbkm/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

[indigoeagle]

It's understandable, that one wants to protect one's brands and original designs.
But wasn't he arguing, that you couldn't use pictures of vintage jackets, that he had acquired, even when the pictures were take before he had bought the jackets?
Normally the photographer is the rights holder.
If I own say a VW Beetle and have some pics of it and then sell the Beetle, I don't think that the current owner of the Beetle could prohibit me from using the pics, even if that includes posting them in my biography on the internet and in print.

And the agreement, that if you buy a product- which you then own- you cannot sell it on, wouldn't fly in Europe at least, I think.
We now have a similar situation though with software in cars. A customer buys a car with special feature software.
When he sells his car in some (many, few- not sure) cases, he cannot transfer the special feature to the new owner.
This might be because the software is never owned, but only licensed. And you cannot transfer the license.
I saw a documentary recently about farmer and their expensive tractors, where they had such a situation.

[indigoeagle]

1 minute ago, Broark said:

Yoshiaki really burned some bridges over the years, but I don't the the international community was ever important to him.
Seems like he's just gotten too big for his own britches in my opinion.
Hell, the guy has a fuckin' semi truck...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DH67plETbkm/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Japan is a huge domestic market.
And if something is popular, a large percentage will want that. From my experience that percentage is much larger than in other countries.
 

[Broark]

1 minute ago, indigoeagle said:

Japan is a huge domestic market.
And if something is popular, a large percentage will want that. From my experience that percentage is much larger than in other countries.
 

Yeah it's definitely true that the international market isn't going to be a drop in the bucket compared the JP domestic market.
I just know he's tried to throw his weight around a lot with his elevated "reputation" and it's given a lot of people a bad impression of him ever since, myself included.

[ATWM]

I had a general awareness of CSF just early enough to probably acquire some in reasonable time if I wanted it, but the old splash page on the website of some try hard chain smoking denim head and the rumblings about the proprietor was enough to put me off. Even moreso at that point, the brand image would speak to me more loudly than an especially well fading denim. But that still remains. That Denimseeker thing was the cherry on top, as noted, I couldn’t fathom how he even thought he had particular rights to those photos which were no doubt owned by the photographer or perhaps a company that they had been signed over to, but photographs don’t just transmutate into IP of whoever comes into possession of them. It was the most entitled shit I’d seen in awhile. And all directed at someone who had intentions that by all accounts looked pretty innocent and passion driven. 

None of this necessarily applies to Slash from what I’ve seen, I can understand a motivation to limit purchases to in person (maybe not as justification to command a super high price, this is where I get a little skeptical). That said, I’ve got a really hard time giving my money to someone who conducts themselves as an ass on the internet (this goes well beyond denim).

I can’t know how they are in person, maybe they’re different at heart, but when all I’ve got to go on is how they present themselves I will take it at face value. 

[julian-wolf]

I’ve been building up a small collection of Django Atour over the past few months. Thanks again to @Duke Mantee for first bringing them to my attention probably 4ish years ago when I was on the hunt for high quality linen shirts—I never ended up trying any out at the time, but the brand has been pretty consistently on my radar since then

The original impetus for finally trying them out, as mentioned a few pages back, was needing to dress up a bit for a family wedding. I got a black linen pants + jacket set, a lofty white linen shirt, and a striped cotton vest. The vest, shirt, and pants were from Masuya1997; the jacket, along with a second pair of pants (more on those below) were from Atelier Gardenia, which I believe is Django Atour’s direct shop, and which doesn’t remove domestic taxes for international orders, but does offer a pretty consistent 10% off code if you subscribe to their newsletter.

The jacket, sadly, turned out to be much too small on me. Everything else fits perfect. Go figure. The jacket and pants are beautiful and very versatile, although, given my lifestyle, I doubt I’ll end up wearing the pants often outside of more formal contexts. The shirt is a lot more formal feeling, and also more aggressively old-timey, which is a tough combo in general, although I think it works very well for the specific sort of context for which I got it. The vest is my favorite of the bunch. It’s heavy and sturdy and the fabric has gorgeous detailing and the pattern seems very well considered; I can see myself dressing it down to wear much more regularly than the rest of the more formal outfit.

 

Last photo feat. vintage bolo, Tender Co. socks, MOTO derbies

[julian-wolf]

My most-worn Django piece so far, by a big margin, has been the other pair of pants that I got from Atelier Gardenia. They bill them as “linen easy pants”, and I think that’s a pretty apt description. Really great mid-weight lofty 100% linen plain weave fabric in a great color, cut with full legs and a very high rise. I’ve been using them as pajamas most evenings.

Last photo feat. old Ues big waffle thermal, Birks

[julian-wolf]

More recently, I picked up two cotton/linen tee shirts on Yahoo for like $25 + shipping. The fabric’s really great. It twists a ton, which I like, particularly given that they seemed to account for it well during patterning. (Maybe this relates to the unique approach to the shoulder and sleeve seems?) They fit well, but the cut is a little out of my comfort zone, I think, with a very wide neck and too little length keep tucked—so I’ve mostly been using them as active wear for climbing & hiking. For that, they’re perfect. Definitely would recommend to anyone who prefers this style of fit.

 

[Duke Mantee]

Really nice detailing on the clothes @julian-wolf … and I always found Masuya to be a really cool store (and very helpful)

[Lorcan]

4 hours ago, indigoeagle said:

Is Payday a brand run by Junky Classics?
It could be its own company, no? Like Big Mike or Headlight (at Toyo).

Very nice reduced design of the WW2 model.

For some reason I had it in my head that it was, but you're right it's its own thing as a revived brand and has other ownership. This seems to be the official site. For what seems like a fairly mainstream fashion conglomerate it seems funny they'd do stuff that edges into the one-man artisanal denim space. But perhaps that's just Japan for you 🤷‍♂️ 

Cockpit USA (leather jacket company) seem to have the licence to do Payday stuff in the US.

[indigoeagle]

29 minutes ago, Lorcan said:

For some reason I had it in my head that it was, but you're right it's its own thing as a revived brand and has other ownership. This seems to be the official site. For what seems like a fairly mainstream fashion conglomerate it seems funny they'd do stuff that edges into the one-man artisanal denim space. But perhaps that's just Japan for you 🤷‍♂️ 

Cockpit USA (leather jacket company) seem to have the licence to do Payday stuff in the US.

They have quite a big number of reactivated/licensed brands:
https://marquemaker.com/brand.html

 

[Lorcan]

After going down the rabbit hole of google-fu/instagram stalking-  I think this could be the guy who makes the Payday WWII jacket for them?

https://www.instagram.com/coal_mine_2022/ 

Coalmine Guaranteed/ Yosuke Kamogawa seems to collab with Tatsumasa Onuki who is mentioned in one of the magazine articles in the Marquemaker Press section as brand director of Payday (unless translate is messing with me) but otherwise couldn't see him mentioned on their official site  -or Payday anywhere on Onuki's social media -  but he does describe himself as freelance designer, so maybe that's not surprising. I reckon he got the design gig and then got his mate with the artisanal denim business involved 

Edited July 14 by Lorcan

[mlwdp]

I want this chambray so bad!