OLD BLUE X SAMURAI JEANS
[ OLD BLUE ]
Old Blue is a denim brand based in Jakarta, Indonesia. They are extremely particular about their fabrics and materials, as well as all the processes involved in making their products, and have fans all over the world due to this high level of quality. The company is also constantly coming up with new denim fabrics for their worldwide fanbase, including the development and creation of heavy-ounce denim.
Samurai Jeans hadn’t collaborated with any apparel makers up until 2021, but we wanted to change that and overcome some of the barriers that seem to exist between brands, and so here we are, this time getting together to do something special with Old Blue.
We were really impressed by the attitude of Old Blue and could relate to their whole ethos of being particular about all aspects of development and production. They do not compromise on any level: in their fabrics, their cuts, their materials, or any of the other elements that go into making such quality products.
The flasher and leather patches for this collaboration model are imbued with meaning and feature characters inspired by both brands. They stand back-to-back to show that they are not in conflict or competition with each other, but rather standing together in a show of cooperation and mutual support, a stance from which they can better challenge themselves individually by working together collectively. By this, we are trying to paint a bigger picture of an “Eastern Alliance” (friendship) between our two brands.
[ DENIM ]
These jeans are specially-made with denim from both brands. On the Samurai side we have the famous “Cho-Kiwami” 21oz denim, a heavy denim that is really representative of the brand. Old Blue kicks in with its own heavyweight contribution, the aptly-named 21/23oz “Beast” fabric.
Though the denim weights are similar, these fabrics are each packed with attention to detail unique to each manufacturer, making them actually quite different from each other.
As Samurai fans will already know, Samurai uses carefully-selected cotton yarn with relatively long fibers, weaving them together in a rough weave that has a ton of character. Stiff and yet soft at the same time, this denim is a beautiful expression of what Samurai is capable of.
Old Blue’s “Beast” denim, on the other hand, is a slubby denim with a tightly-woven texture - a beast indeed! The color of this fabric is slightly darker than the Samurai, though like the Samurai denim, the “Beast” is also specially-woven in Japan. This denim is used here for the Old Blue tag, the right back pocket, as well as the coin pocket sporting the Old Blue arcuate.
[ ARCUATE ]
Along with the flasher and leather patch, we have also created a collaborative arcuate that conveys the spirit of this model.
Here we’ve taken the arcuate from our Yamato series and combined it with the double stitching synonymous with Old Blue. Although it’s much more difficult and time consuming, we’ve done the arcuates freehand as opposed to the more common embroidery technique.
In an homage to our newly-formed “Eastern Alliance” of craftsmanship, the arcuate design symbolizes two seagulls of slightly different sizes soaring and moving ahead together.
[ DETAILS ]
Firstly, we created a new woven name tag specifically for this collaboration. The design is highly-detailed and done in rayon thread which you can look forward to changing and aging along with the jeans themselves.
For the top button we’ve used an Old Blue original. The surface is done in a baked copper that gives it a real impact, just as the sheer thickness and weight of it impresses when you hold this button in your hand. To be honest, we’d never seen a button like it before.
The remaining smaller buttons are the familiar iron buttons from Samurai as seen on some of the limited edition models with their beautiful pine motif and shiny, pure gold plating. The glint off of these is quite different to the baked finish of the Old Blue button, but the donut shape runs a common thread through them all and unifies the whole button fly.
On the right side where the Old Blue “Beast” denim is used for the back pocket, the front pocket bag sports the Old Blue union ticket, while on the left side where the Samurai fabric is used for the back pocket, the pocket bag bears the “Kiwami 21oz” mark.
[ SILHOUETTE ]
The shape of these jeans is modeled on Samurai’s popular S710XX 19oz, which are a medium-rise slim straight. From this base we injected some of the essence of Old Blue (the pockets, for example) and thus our collaborative creation was complete.
We have nothing but appreciation and gratitude towards Old Blue for agreeing to and participating in this collaboration project. Thanks to them, we have created a wonderful product that we can both be proud of and satisfied with.
Scheduled for February, 2022 release.
Don’t miss this one!