Samurai Denim

[beatle]

Nope..and info I would be able to give you right now would be devestating....so I am gonna wait untill you're ready

[gimmegimme]

:eek: What should I do to prepare?

I'm just wondering if its worth snagging a pair of S5000's from Japan while they're still out there.

[corter]

i hope mine have aracs and tabs...thats why i went through the trouble of a proxy.

::cross fingers::

[Brienneoftarth]

no, because they were made here, shipped to japan, and then shipped back here.

these could be made here, put in a bag, and a quick train ride to BIG

..i wanna know where they were made.....just drop into the warehouse and buy a few pairs for like 30 bucks from the clueless workers.

[cheep]

i dont think you could do that... even if you could get into the factory, the guy who runs it knows whats up.

and this is just in planning... nothing confirmed yet.

[polishmike]

I rather have no arc's than ugly ones.

[poly800rock]

i think toshiko said no arcs or tabs. again, i'd make a big deal about it if they would actually last. i barely have remnants of either on my contest samurais

[polishmike]

Agree but I don't want some ugly arcs on my ass for first 4 months. I would be very happy with blank pockets.

[386]

On the "Texas cotton" Samurai jeans they use 100% cotton even in the thread used for the stitching. On their other jeans, I'd think the arcs would last a while longer than on our contest jeans.

Do they use 100% cotton or some kind of blend with the thread in their other jeans?

[beatle]

If I am not mistaken - they use 100% cotton for all models

[cheep]

all samurai, and most all repro type jeans use 100% cotton thread. i think the contest sams use 100% texas cotton thread.

[poly800rock]

yeah, my samurai blacks aren't completely off yet. but i haven't worn those as hard.

[gimmegimme]

I guess if there are ugly arc's, you could just remove them. There should be an arc-design contest or something.

[salaami]

its because the cotton is from the us.

rumor has it that samurai, and maybe some other brands, will have limited runs of made in the USA jeans in the future...

yo cheep, i am still a bit confused, because(correct me if im wrong) the contest sams are made from us(texas) cotton, but im sure yours,polys, beatles, and the others' all say made in osaka, japan. i admit, i was kinda upset when i noticed the difference, but after reading your post, im kinda thinking maybe mine are a bit more rare than i thought... i do remember telling yuji that i took a bus 600 miles in a blizzard to come see him, and that i was from VA( where gordon hails from)so he called gordon and then he(yuji) told me that the ones he was giving me were not on the website. i had him hem them with a thick hem band, since i wanted them to be like shirasu jiro's(a tribute pair) but im still perplexed... ill post a pic of @least the patch as soon as my lil sister's camera batteries charge up.

[cheep]

im just telling you what gordon told me about the patches.

[beatle]

I actually think only the S510XX was either sewn in the States - or it's just the leather patch that says so since it's the most authentic Levi's repro..

Honestly - I have to ask Toshiko...soon

[cheep]

not sewn in the us beat... just cotton from the us.

[beatle]

not sewn in the us beat... just cotton from the us.

Funny...but isn't Texas Cotton from the US as well ? Does'nt make sense...I'll have to ask the girl who should know...

[Raijin-Fujin]

maybe not at BIG... no shipping, no customs. it would be like japanese jeans in japan.

well... maybe not... labor is still much more expensive here... and importing the denim.

Ha ha.... labor more expensive here?? I doubt that. Japan is not China... and the Japanese do not have the extensive 'latin' workforce that U.S. factories use. Ever been to a denim factory downtown?

If anything with the lower value of the yen of recent it may be a wash...

[salaami]

Funny...but isn't Texas Cotton from the US as well ? Does'nt make sense...I'll have to ask the girl who should know...

yeah, thats the part that perplexes me. maybe its vintage cotton picked back when texas was mexico(hecho en mexico)

[edmond]

you guys have to see this

http://www.jeans-izumi.co.jp/yssuhp/35th%202page.htm

[chantheman]

looks like sept 9th

[bonanz]

all samurai, and most all repro type jeans use 100% cotton thread. i think the contest sams use 100% texas cotton thread.

Are you sure? I thought most used cotton wrapped polyester thread? it gives that cotton feel with some actual strength...at least I know ironheart does. I think skull uses all cotton thread and thats why they bust open so easily.

[moykky]

Funny...but isn't Texas Cotton from the US as well ? Does'nt make sense...I'll have to ask the girl who should know...

Texas cotton..

...and Zimbabwe cotton...

...might be picked up from those places but the denim itself is made in Japan?

[chantheman]

what does the AI stand for in S510XXAI-N?

[ThugLife]

isnt it the way they dye the jeans with natural indigo? its japanese for something i think.

[salaami]

from what i heard, AI either represents the dyer himself, or the method. its referenced here somewhere. as for the thread, i was told that certain labels use cotton thread(as opposed to nylon-core of poly-core)to stay consistent with how jeans were originally sewn, and to keep congruent to how vintage jeans actually break down. no offense, but some of us put a lot of possibly undue stress on our seems due to the snugness of the fit( we all know what im talking about). if you bend over and your ass rips out, you cant blame the manufacturer.

[beatle]

what does the AI stand for in S510XXAI-N?

I took the curtesy to give you the long story ...BIG puts it this way

The Samurai original denim used for this model consists of cotton yarns rope

dyed with natural indigo prior to weaving on vintage wooden shuttle looms.

Unlike hank dyeing where the yarns would normally be dyed blue to the core with

indigo, rope dyeing is a yarn dyeing process that consists of dipping yarns into vats

of indigo dye numerous times to achieve a dark blue color while leaving the cores

of the cotton yarns white. This allows for the fading and distressing common

amongst denim blue jeans. Due to these white cores and the impurities found in

100% natural indigo it's said that it's impossible to achieve a dark blue color through

the rope dyeing of cotton yarns with natural indigo. For this denim however, those

impurities have been removed leaving only the densest properties of the indigo to

be used for dyeing. The end result is what Samurai considers a great challenge and

new frontier in indigo dyeing by creating a dark colored rope dyed denim using

natural indigo.

It has been said that it's hard to achieve a dark color denim with natural indigo and

that natural indigo denims are much slower to show distress even with frequent

wearing. But this jean has achieved both, a dark blue color denim and one that will

fade and distress in the same manner as its regular indigo counterparts making it

unique in its dyeing advancements as well as its fade and wear patterns over time

In other words - the holy garil of denim

[salaami]

beatle, i love you for the info, but i think we want to know what the AI actually stands for, since most natural indigo jeans have the AI @ the end of the model name, regardless of the brand. forgive my ignorance...

[beatle]

Allright - more info on AI in a minute..

First of all official samurai explanation for the "made in USA" leather patch - which was indeed only used for the S510XX - a couple of years ago - and yes - since the cottons origin was in the US

NO. it is until around 2003 or so.

We changed it to "made in Osaka Japan" around 2004 or so.

The leather patch on S0510XXIII is written by that way, I am sure.

But now, for example, S0510XX, it is written as "made in Osaka".

For the first time, we use the cotton which is made in United States.

So, we say so.

Now, we are proud of our jeans which made in Japan.

So, we write down on the leather patch "made in Osaka, Japan".