The Denim Thread [Read the first few post before asking questions] - Part 1

[AngelRomeo]

i pulled the trigger and bought the cotton wool denim.

Also bought an Evisu jeans and rare Momotaro 10oz summer jeans this month..collection coming to 60 pairs of jeans liao.....

I got like almost double quantity of yours, mixture of levis, uniqlo and h&m jeans. most is levis jeans. i started to collect jeans since 2017 until now, started with h&m and uniqlo, then covid onwards bought levis
luckily my workplace can wear jeans, if ask me wear formal pants i cannot, not used to it already after wearing jeans for many years.
other brand of jeans never buy before

 

[Brandedclassicwear]

I got like almost double quantity of yours, mixture of levis, uniqlo and h&m jeans. most is levis jeans. i started to collect jeans since 2017 until now, started with h&m and uniqlo, then covid onwards bought levis
luckily my workplace can wear jeans, if ask me wear formal pants i cannot, not used to it already after wearing jeans for many years.
other brand of jeans never buy before

Amazing. How many pairs of Levis do you have?

For me, I have jeans from 15-20 brands because I am curious about the quality so I buy online for 90% of them and 10-15% are actually 2nd hand in like new condition.

 

[AngelRomeo]

Amazing. How many pairs of Levis do you have?

For me, I have jeans from 15-20 brands because I am curious about the quality so I buy online for 90% of them and 10-15% are actually 2nd hand in like new condition.

About 65 pairs

 

[denimart]

I have over 50 pairs of selvedge jeans; in fact, I just bought 25 in the past year.

if you like slim soft jeans, can go for Studio D'artisan Suvin Gold, Fullcount 1109 or 1108, Momotaro GTB 1106spz

Not sure count onot. I have 50 to maybe over a hundred pairs of selvedge Levi’s and other brands of denim jeans, overalls and jackets but they were all period vintage made from 1890s to 1980s, they are not LVC. 10 over years ago I even traveled to Okayama and kurashiki jeans street visiting Japan blue and skull jeans factories to see the old Toyota shutter looms and how they made their jeans.

 

[discoburg]

i pulled the trigger and bought the cotton wool denim.

Also bought an Evisu jeans and rare Momotaro 10oz summer jeans this month..collection coming to 60 pairs of jeans liao.....

The Evisu you bought from which shop?

 

[Brandedclassicwear]

The Evisu you bought from which shop

Not sure count onot. I have 50 to maybe over a hundred pairs of selvedge Levi’s and other brands of denim jeans, overalls and jackets but they were all period vintage made from 1890s to 1980s, they are not LVC. 10 over years ago I even traveled to Okayama and kurashiki jeans street visiting Japan blue and skull jeans factories to see the old Toyota shutter looms and how they made their jeans.

Sure count.

I also visited Okayama last year and visited several denim shops. There was even a tailor who makes denim suit. Nearly bought some selvedge denim fabrics home but my wife stopped me. Will be visiting Hinoya in Tokyo in November and Okayama denim in Shibuya too.

Evisu is preloved from overseas. I think now 25% of my jeans are preloved - most of my japanese jeans in fact.

 

[denimart]

Hey thank u, I visited okayama and kurashiki for many days with my wife and bro. Actually many people think of buying high end or well known Japanese label but when u get to visit these places, even the unheard of brand carries the same type of quality, very artisanal. I only bought some, my intention is to get behind the scene of how they produced them and I’ve achieved that but eventually I believe I should stick to what my roots is, to collect the old vintage pieces than to remake them. If I get the chance I will upload some pictures and show u guys what I had. I welcome any fashion design students or denimhead history buff to visit me, u will get to learn what u never get to see in a lifetime.

 

[Brandedclassicwear]

Hey thank u, I visited okayama and kurashiki for many days with my wife and bro. Actually many people think of buying high end or well known Japanese label but when u get to visit these places, even the unheard of brand carries the same type of quality, very artisanal. I only bought some, my intention is to get behind the scene of how they produced them and I’ve achieved that but eventually I believe I should stick to what my roots is, to collect the old vintage pieces than to remake them. If I get the chance I will upload some pictures and show u guys what I had. I welcome any fashion design students or denimhead history buff to visit me, u will get to learn what u never get to see in a lifetime.

In Kurashiki, there is a denim suit maker. I wonder if you had seen it. Very artisan. https://maps.app.goo.gl/w2GXdgzwHhYDVi7D6
In the area, there are a lot of denim start-ups by local families with their own brand and designs; they do not sell internationally, but just get the denim from nearby areas (including ibara city) , design and sew themselves to sell. It's like if the local kids come to age, their destiny is to continue in the denim business.

Beside Kurobo, Nihon menpu, Kaihara, Kuroki, Collect Mills, there are dozens of smaller mills in surrounding areas producing very interesting denim (greencast, 25oz, etc)

Do share the pictures.

I just bought another 5 pairs of jeans last month (1 new, 4 pre-loved) ..might had exceeded 60 pairs of jeans for me already. In my shopping cart, still have another 3-4 pairs still deciding....

 

[Brandedclassicwear]

btw, if any of you are visiting Okayama or Kurashiki Denim street, you must bring your passport every day. I forgot to bring my passport and chanced upon a jeans that i liked in this shop: https://maps.app.goo.gl/SkQAmN7qMkqzp3t9A

Ended up because I couldn't get the tax-free without my passport, I didn't buy on the spot.

The shop has a very comprehensive collection of Momotaro and Japan Blue denims, both brands from Collect Mills.

 

[Brandedclassicwear]

I asked AI to categorise some Japanese brands into 3 tiers. What are your comments? Give a "like' for my efforts leh. I added a pair of The Strike Gold to my collection earlier this week. Now contemplating Oni and a Momotaro 10th anniversary. If I managed to sell some jeans on Carousell, I will add.

Placement rule: denim quality + workmanship consistency; each house sits in the highest tier it reliably achieves across all seasons.

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TIER 1 — ARTISAN / MUSEUM GRADE​

“Own or commission exclusive cloth, sewn in-house or micro-workshop, 4+ SPI, hidden rivets, archival accuracy.”
Table
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Brand​	Rationale​
The Real McCoy’s​	Custom 14.75 oz repro cloth, own Tokyo workshop, 4 SPI, iron buttons, hidden rivets.​
Ooe Yofukuten​	Two-person atelier; 16 oz loom-state woven only for them; every pair hand-finished.​
Full Count​	Zimbabwe-cotton pioneer; 15.5 oz cloth on 1950s Toyoda looms; 4 SPI, copper hidden rivets.​
Iron Heart​	Proprietary 21–25 oz ultra-tight weave; Scovill hardware, double-chain inseam.​
Samurai Jeans​	Multi-count slub yarns, silver/gold selvedge ID, iron buttons, hidden rivets.​
The Flat Head​	Exclusive 14.5 & 18 oz Zimbabwe selvedge; Nagano workshop, 4 SPI, vertical “falling” grain.​
Warehouse & Co.​	“Banner Denim” 1930s repro; single-needle back-yoke, 4 SPI, hidden rivets, <300 pc runs.​
TCB​	Family atelier Kojima; custom unsanforized cloth, 4+ SPI, hand-written lot tags.​
The Strike Gold​	Proprietary 14–17 oz uneven slub yarn (indigo×black, natural indigo); own Okayama workshop, copper hidden rivets, 4 SPI.​
45R (45 rpm)​	Ryukyu cotton & Miyagi indigo grown in-house; hand-spun weft, natural fermentation dye, hand-linked arcs, micro-batches of 60–90 pairs; price ¥60k–¥80k but construction equals museum restoration level.​

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TIER 2 — ENTHUSIAST / CONNOISSEUR​

“Very good Japanese cloth, solid hardware, but either shared factory, bigger runs, or slight QC drift.”
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Brand​	Rationale​
Pure Blue Japan​	Slubbiest denim, natural-indigo options; 3.5 SPI, subcontract atelier, minor lot variation.​
ONI Denim​	Secret low-tension 14–20 oz slub; 3–3.8 SPI, subcontract sewing.​
Momotaro​	Zimbabwe cotton, 15.7 oz “Vintage”; 4 SPI but sewn in Japan Blue Group factory → larger runs.​
Studio D’Artisan​	Osaka Five pioneer; custom cloth, but part production partner-factory; 3.8 SPI.​
Tanuki​	Proprietary low-tension & double-indigo; 3.6 SPI, partner atelier.​
Evisu (JP No. 1 line)​	Hand-painted arcs, 14.5 oz natural-indigo Okayama cloth; bigger production & diffusion lines.​
Orslow​	Custom-milled 13.5 oz & 9 oz selvedge woven on old shuttle looms; one-wash only, higher rise 1950s cuts, 3.6 SPI, own Hyogo workshop—but sanforized cloth and repeat-season core program keep it just outside Tier 1.​
Visvim (JP-made denim)​	Uses exclusive 13.5–16 oz natural-indigo Okayama cloth (often double-ring yarn), hand-linked arcs, hand-painted mud-dye options; however very fashion-forward cuts, small subcontract workshops, and seasonal fabric swaps create slight QC drift run-to-run.​

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TIER 3 — ENTRY / EVERYDAY PREMIUM​

“Real Japanese selvedge, honest build, but wider distribution, sanforized cloth, or lighter QC/details.”
Table
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Brand​	Rationale​
Japan Blue​	Kaihara/Zimbabwe blends, 3.3 SPI, modern fits, mass-market volume.​
Sugar Cane​	Toyo Enterprise mill, 14 oz blends, 3.5 SPI, price-point positioning.​
Kojima Genes​	Japanese cloth but Thailand-sewn, 3.3 SPI, crowd-funded runs.​
Yamano​	Sanforized cloth, standard hardware, no hidden rivets.​
Edwin​	First Japanese denim maker (1961); still uses Kaihara & Kuroki, but core line is sanforized, 3.2 SPI, mass retail (EU/JP high-street); ED-55/ED-80 are gateway pairs—good value, limited collectability.​
Big John​	Invented the first Japanese jeans (1973); Kaihara RARE denim on top models, but mainline is sanforized, 3.2 SPI, mid-price department-store positioning—solid quality, less archival detail.​

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Quick-look cheat-sheet (alphabetical inside tiers)​

Tier 1: 45R, Full Count, Iron Heart, Ooe Yofukuten, Samurai, Strike Gold, TCB, The Flat Head, The Real McCoy’s, Warehouse
Tier 2: Edwin (JP-made), Evisu JP No.1, Momotaro, ONI, Orslow, Pure Blue Japan, Studio D’Artisan, Tanuki, Visvim JP denim
Tier 3: Big John, Japan Blue, Kojima Genes, Sugar Cane, Yamano

Collect from Tier 1, rotate Tier 2 for texture, beat up Tier 3 for daily life.

 

[Brandedclassicwear]

Just to add, I had a few prompts earlier than the above list that created more detailed descriptions of the denim quality and workmanship quality.

Got an education on Stitch per inch (SPI). You can see that the Tier 1 and Momotaro use 4 SPI and Zimbabwe cotton. However, Zimbabwe is not the priciest material. The priciest material is Silk-cotton, then Suvin gold cotton, then Sea island cotton, then any other extra-long staple cotton, then Zimbabwe cotton ( long staple cotton). Normally, these are for lighter jeans, 15oz and below, due to the fineness of the thread.