One of our favorite books in the office is Denim Design Lab by Brian Robbins. It offers an extensive look at the beauty of vintage denim including details on denim as a fabric, its history, the development of the jean and the detailed manufacturing process. Robbins includes a large selection of photographs displaying rare and vintage denim, each pair being absolutely unique.
Evisu is proud to be the only modern denim brand featured in Robbins’ book, and he credits our brand as as a major factor in the revival of quality denim. Alongside vintage Levi 501’s, Lee and Wranglers from the 1950s, Evisu jeans from 1993 and 1998 make their way into the book’s vintage tribute. There are also a few pages of text devoted to Evisu, which have been reproduced below.
Bringing back the details ….
While the US denim market in general continued to grow and prosper through the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s, changes largely precipitated by improving manufacturing methods and machinery had an unintended but profound impact on a then small group of denim purists. The move from traditional shuttle looms to larger, more efficient looms used in the manufacturing of denim fabric resulted in not only the demise of the then ubiquitous “selvage,” but denim with much more consistent (read “bland”) surface character.
While these and other more subtle changes increased profitability for manufactures, they also often resulted in denim that lacked the surface imperfections, variations and “slubs” typical in vintage denim; the look and “feel” of jeans had changed. During this time, while most Americans were “consuming” denim, many Japanese were scouring the countryside, flea-markets, swap meets and garage sales “collecting” denim. Having an eye for detail and a nostalgia for all things truly American, these collectors were buying up as much pre-1985 vintage Levi’s, Lee’s and Wrangler’s they could find.
It is not surprising, then, that it would be a detail conscious Japanese “denim fanatic” that would help revive the materials and manufacturing methods used to produce vintage denim.
After years of research and planning, the former tailor of Osaka, Japan, Hidehiko Yamane, founded the now famous cult brand “Evisu” in 1991. Evisu (also written as Evis or Ebisu), the Japanese god of money who is often depicted with a fish and fishing rod, was selected as the name of his new company as money and fishing were two of Yamane’s greatest passions.
After gathering some old shuttle looms and other necessary vintage machinery, Yamane-san went to work replicating the details found in both vintage denim jeans and fabric that he was no longer able to find in the retail market. Evisu’s initial production output was a mere 14 pairs a day. The detail-obsessed denim “maniacs,” as they are often called, were naturally drawn to Evisu’s vintage inspired denim, and the brand quickly became famous in Japan. The brand’s success in Japan slowly grew to other continents, and Evisu can be credited as a major factor in ushering in the revival of interest in vintage denim. Today, Evisu can be found in over a thousand of the world’s most exclusive retail establishments.
Stop by Denim Design Lab and pick up a copy of this denim book.
Also, this book is for sale on our International website.
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