so, i'm having a pair of jeans made . . . .

[G!zM() 17]

Selvage zipper is sooo cool, me likey. Does anyone know of a brand that uses that kind of zipper?

[edmond]

i will be ordering jeans from him definitely!

but does he have like standard cuts? lets say a 55 501 cut?

[klue]

can we see him attach the pocket to the front piece?

[benzak]

can we see him attach the pocket to the front piece?

I think that was what raWorkshop meant as well

[vanfragmeter]

Definitly a cool thread. Props to you.

[Abattoir]

+rep/subscribing.

keep going!

[mizanation]

i will be ordering jeans from him definitely!

but does he have like standard cuts? lets say a 55 501 cut?

yes, he has a standard 50's 501 cut.

[mizanation]

can we see him attach the pocket to the front piece?

i will take pictures of this when he sews my jeans on tuesday.

[mrjuby]

i'm pretty sure levis has people watching this thread to see if mizanation is going to add levis arcs to the back pockets. (8)

[Bigyen]

Can he make denim work shirts?, with selvedge gussets and all?

[mizanation]

yes, he makes denim shirts and jackets--with selvage gussets if you want.

Can he make denim work shirts?, with selvedge gussets and all?

[who8mahrice]

Ohh jackets. Interesting. Could you get a rough estimate of how much one would be, Miz? Thanks!

[mizanation]

Ohh jackets. Interesting. Could you get a rough estimate of how much one would be, Miz? Thanks!

i'm with kuniyoshi-san right now. about to head to his lab.

he says jackets are about 40000 yen. everything custom of course.

[mizanation]

ok, spent the whole day with kuniyoshi-san and took a ton of pictures. the amount of knowledge kuniyoshi-san has surprises me and i've met a lot of jean experts. today, i got to know a little bit more about who he is and why he does this.

he says every young person in japan who is into denim wants to be a designer, but not him. he just wanted to learn the denim craft. to learn what he knows, you have to spend years in a factory in okayama getting paid a crap wage making hundreds of jeans a day. now, he says, almost all of the workers in the japanese factories are foreign laborers--no young japanese person is crazy or stupid enough to work in a denim factory.

his main teacher at the factory was a 65 years old lady (now 75 years old) who has been a professional seamstress since she was 15 years old. she has seen the evolution of the japanese denim industry from the beginning. this lady and the other old-timers took kuniyoshi-san under their wing and taught him the lessons that they learned over 50 years in the business. they treated him like a son because it was so unusual for a young japanese man to take a low-paying factory job. even to this day, he will visit his old teachers to improve his technique. he truly is one of the last old-school japanese denim artisans.

in japanese, the word for "artisan" is "shokunin." to be a shokunin, in the japanese sense of the word, you must dedicate your entire life to your craft. everyday is spent on improvement of your skills no matter how mundane and no matter how well you have mastered them. he is constantly searching for the perfect stitch. for this, i have a huge amount of respect for mr. kuniyoshi.

i can't tell you explicitly which jeans he has helped manufacture, but he has helped to sew the most coveted and expensive high-end denim brands in the world. it's crazy to me that years ago when i was lusting over certain jeans that he was in a stuffy factory in okayama making them.

anyways, i'm glad i met this guy. who would have thought that there would be someone like this living in koza city, okinawa?

[edmond]

yes, he has a standard 50's 501 cut.

miz how much? shrink form tag size or shrink to tag size?

i need at least a 14 15 16 oz denim with vintage-y feel back pocket arcuates like levis can this be done?

[dralfonzo]

amazing thread, subbed. i love the little details, theres a reason behind every little thing that he does, so interesting. I would love to have a pair of jeans made by him!

[mizanation]

i got a little surprise from kuniyoshi-san today. he is working on a brand new batch of jean jackets and he made a couple samples. he gave me one as a gift!

he still has to put in the hardware, so it is looking kinda plain. actually, at this stage, it looks like the jacket i made a long time ago in brooklyn.

it fits a little big but it will shrink down to size after i soak it.

[mizanation]

miz how much? shrink form tag size or shrink to tag size?

i need at least a 14 15 16 oz denim with vintage-y feel back pocket arcuates like levis can this be done?

um, holler at me via pm, man.

[mizanation]

btw, if you check the new issue of lightning magazine you will see kuniyoshi-san representing okinawa!

[mizanation]

got 3 hours of sleep last night, gotta take a nap. will post more later.

[lmaozedong]

wow im incredibly jealous..

[mizanation]

p.s. before i sign off tonight, i want to mention that kuniyoshi-san reminds me a lot of gordon at BiG. the reason why is that they both slaved away in a garment factory for years to learn a dying art--now, they are among the remaining experts of the craft of making clothes the old-fashioned way. they both have an incredible passion for what they do that is well past obsession. they have both worked on the most prestigious clothing brands in their respective fields. and also, they are both truly humble, down to earth cats--that are finally, reluctantly, starting to get their shine. big ups to big g in nyc. when these guys finally meet it will be epic.

[morse9443]

miz killing another thread. keep it coming boss! +repreprep.....

[timburm]

amazing how much love he has for his craft...

[tahonng]

i got a little surprise from kuniyoshi-san today. he is working on a brand new batch of jean jackets and he made a couple samples. he gave me one as a gift!

he still has to put in the hardware, so it is looking kinda plain. actually, at this stage, it looks like the jacket i made a long time ago in brooklyn.

it fits a little big but it will shrink down to size after i soak it.

I can see the resemblance…

[inthemix_]

i just.. came.

[eightfour]

Incredible.

[mizanation]

backpocket stitching. kuniyoshi-san has elevated it to somewhat of an artform. he can stitch pretty much any design onto denim. he also can get ANY design or photo embroidered on denim--i will show you this in another post.

one of his customers had requested that kuniyoshi-san's brand, double volante be stitched onto one of the back pockets. here's how he does it.

first, he writes out the lettering in chalk.

[mizanation]

sewing happens.

[selaviso]

are you getting anything on your back pockets?