JAPANESE RAW SELVEDGE DENIM HISTORY: THE NEW OSAKA 5!

Japanese Raw Selvedge Denim has had a long, long foothold in the menswear and mens fashion scene, and has completely changed the way menswear is viewed to this day. Japan has a long rooted passion for heritage American style, having morphed it into a brainchild of their own, and completely changed the scope of what is possible within the raw selvedge denim world!

Raw denim was taken under Japan's wing and has been tried, tested, experimented on, and perfected over time, which is why Japans knowledge on raw denim jeans and raw selvedge denim has grown to incredible heights! We are seeing raw denim jeans unlike anything we have ever seen before, and boy are they absolutely amazing!

This whole craze began with the Osaka 5, where the brands Studio D'Artisan, Denime, Fullcount, Evisu, and Warehouse & Co. all began making attempts at elevating and perfecting the raw denim jean in the 1980's and so forth. But today, I wanted to talk about what I feel is the new Osaka 5, of which I dub the Okayama 7.

These Okayama 7 consists of the brands Samurai Japan, Momotaro, TCB Jeans, Kapital, Pure Blue Japan, Tanuki, and ONI. These brands are doing AMAZING things for raw selvedge denim, and deserve their own light in the grand scheme of raw selvedge denim and raw denim jeans.

*Disclaimer: Samurai Japan WAS in fact rooted in Osaka and now manufactures in Okayama.*

BRANDS IN THE VIDEO (HELPS SUPPORT THE CHANNEL):

Chapters:

Intro - 0:00
Samurai Japan - 2:24
Momotaro - 3:54
TCB Jeans - 5:20
KAPITAL - 6:39
Pure Blue Japan - 7:50
Tanuki - 9:12
ONI - 10:27
Outro - 13:00

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#menswear #mensfashion #ootd #fashion #style #shorts

[StitchdownShell]

Hey Alejandro. Really enjoying your channel. Okayama 7 is catchy! I really like all these and have several of them in my collection. Superb denim. My favourite is definitely ONI and PBJ! So good.

[AlejandroJomar]

*DISCLAIMER* I forgot to mention that Samurai Japan was in fact STARTED in Osaka, however now manufactures largely in Okayama. Sorry about that. My mistake guys. I struggled greatly with whether or not I should have even posted this video due to me not having voiced that, so I may end up deleting this video, I'm still not sure.

[alanward]

It actually hurts that TCB is seen by some folk (definitely not you, Alejandro!) as some kind of Levi's tribute act when even their earlier releases outperform LVC by such a distance. Years ago, I bought a pair of one-wash LVC 1966 501s that lasted one season. Three months and they were in the bin. TCB's 60s cut jeans, based on the 1966 501, are maybe my favourite jeans and they are ageing beautifully. They've also brought out the Storm Cats Drive jacket, based on the Lee Storm Rider, which looks amazing.

Although I've never sampled any of their denim, shout out to Tanuki for their fantastic heavy Shinkai t-shirt. Lose yourself in that indigo! Thanks for another great video, what a job you're doing.

[RalphJacob]

Hello Alejandro. Have you ever heard of the store, Redcast Heritage from Spain? They are a heritage shop whose owners have a personal relationship with Oishi-san. In fact, they collaborated with him to create a limited edition pair of jeans they released in the late summer months.

[Noidzor]

Great video man! It's kinda funny because when I first started looking into selvedge denim (like 2 months ago) I actually found people talking about brands like Sugarcane, Samurai and Oni more often than the Osaka 5. Either way all these brands deserve their credit since they are unique.

[garbothacan]

just snagged a pair of once worn Oni's 902ZR secret denim for an insane steal. they've immediately become my favorite pair of jeans

[MrMax]

Wow man what a great video!
Love all that detailed information on some of our favorite denim brands.
Very watchable and excellent editing!
Cheers!
-BeN

[Chris-oww]

Love your videos but SELVAGE DENIM started in the US of America 1st. Then the Japanese took it over because of the love for American Heritage Style. They brought our shuttle looms. Great video.

[toleranceapparel]

Just started looking into selvedge a couple months ago. Your content is very helpful. Thanks!

[vicenteramirez]

I dream of visiting Kojima jeans street and see all of these in person, nice video :)

[quirinwick]

Great video Alejandro! Very interesting!!

[ashhoushmand]

PBJ has a -003 cut that is their straight cut fit. Not very wide but most Japanese brands don't really go to that wide fit anyways. All the brands listed are awesome, thanks for another banger video :)

[saltedracer]

please do a strike gold video : ) they're the tops IMO : )

[mikedonovan]

thx for the video. What about Iron heart ?

[fridgeninjas]

I like your videos man! But it is exhausting to the ear to hear every sentenced delivered with an upward inflection at the end as though you're asking a question. A lot of people doing essay style content fall into/work their way through this pitfall, it's like an essential rite of passage for your youtube career lol

[BigFatSeal]

Love the content man, I was out of the selvedge game for years but I’m going back big Iron Heart 25oz in the mail, such an interesting hobby for real.