”SAMURAI”が生み出す日本製デニム
When talking about Samurai Jeans,
one of the most important elements is the heavy weight of the denim.
The denim used in 'normal' jeans is usually somewhere between 13 and 14 ounces,
with lighter, thinner denim sometimes coming in at only 10 to 12 ounces.
In contrast to this lightweight approach, Samurai has been committed to making heavy denim,
starting with our first-generation S510XX that came out at 15oz
and then continued onwards and upwards from there.
It was with the indomitable Samurai spirit in mind that the desire was born to
make jeans that were tough and sturdy, reminding one of the samurai and
evoking an image of rarity and strength.
From those beginnings, we continued to make heavier and tougher denim,
including our rough 17oz denim that uses a special #5 slub yarn,
up to our 21oz fabric that smashed the old belief that heavy denim didn't fade well,
and then onwards to our 24 and 25oz masterpieces that could be said to be the culmination of
all of our efforts and the apex of heavy denim development.
We are proud to say that no other denim of this weight has been created that,
while obviously being thick and durable,
has also been intentionally engineered with fading potential at the forefront.
Our insatiable spirit in continuing to make new and unique heavyweight denim will never dim or falter.
One of the main attractions of Samurai Jeans is indeed our wide range of original denim.
Starting right down at the spinning, dyeing, and weaving stages, each of our selvedge fabrics is different,
and each has its own unique properties and peculiarities.
In addition to our core fabrics, we also do seasonal and limited releases incorporating elements
like natural indigo dyeing, persimmon 'kakishibu' dyeing, super slubby fabrics, black,
unbleached natural ecru, and lefthand twills.
We also make heavyweight selvedge fabrics other than denim
such as back satin, chino, heavy duck, and sulfur-dyed hickory fabric.
While Samurai denim is indeed heavy and thick,
just having those two properties on their own doesn't mean much - it can't be 'just' heavy and thick.
It also has to be nuanced and textured, have great handfeel and fade well.
All of these elements combined are what makes Samurai Jeans special.
From the selection of the cotton itself, to the method of spinning yarn,
to the types of dyes and number of times the yarn is dyed, to the thread counts and tension settings used when weaving, every single step of the process is important and therefore carefully considered.
Making a heavy selvedge denim that fades well is no easy task.
The first hurdle is finding a spinning factory that is
even able or willing to spin such thick and slubby yarns.
Not all factories can do this. The number of weaving factories is already very limited,
so when you throw in the unreasonable request of trying to smash together fat, slubby yarns into thick denim, it's beyond the bounds of reasons for most weaving factories.
Only a few are willing and able to produce denim like this, and
it is undeniably hard on the looms to weave at such low tension.
Put simply, the unusually thick and uneven yarns make every step
in the process much more difficult that if we were just using normal yarn.
Slubby yarns breaking can damage the looms and cause them to stop,
and we realize it is risky to make such unconventional fabrics, but that's what we do.
It's a slow process where a lot can go wrong, but when it goes right, magic happens.
The slow speeds also mean that the amount of fabric we can produce
in a given time frame is quite low compared to other types of denim.
This is all only possible due to the shared passion and willingness to push the boundaries that
all the craftspeople in the process possess.
Without each of their passion and skill, none of this would be possible.
