Evisu
Country of Origin : Japan
Supply : Mens, Ladies
Price band : C (A: most expensive, E: least expensive)
Overview: Evisu was formally born in Osaka, Japan in
1991 although Evisu had been researching and planning
to reproduce the perfect pair of vintage jeans for several
years prior to this. The founder, and still the owner,
of Evisu is Hidehiko Yamane. Yamane-san was trained as
a tailor but his love for vintage jeans and his disappointment
with the mass-produced modern versions led him firstly,
to the vintage clothing import business and then, revolutionarily,
to start putting together the elements required to reproduce
vintage-style jeans. This required the gathering together
of all the various bits of machinery, none of which had
been produced for at least 40 years, which are required
to make authentic vintage jeans.
The initial production line allowed about 14 pairs of
Evisu jeans a day to be produced and each of them was
lovingly hand-painted with the now famous seagull logo
by Yamane-san himself. Evisu (also written as Evis or
Ebisu) is the name of the Japanese Buddhist god of money
who is usually portrayed with a fish and fishing rod.
The name Evisu was selected for the new venture as money
and fishing are two of Yamane-san's five favourite things
(the others being beer, women and golf - in no particular
order).
Although initially Evisu was more a labour of love than
a commercial venture, Evisu jeans captured the imagination
of the detail-obsessed, Japanese fashion crowd, spurring
a revival of interest in vintage denim which has now spread
around the world. In the early nineties Yamane-san introduced
a tailoring line, followed by a fishing range and a golf
range. In 1999 Evisu introduced a ladies fashion line
called Evisu Donna to complete the development of Evisu
as a full-fashion range going far beyond a jeans brand.
Evisu now has 25 shops in Japan. In 1994 Yamane-san was
visited by Peter Caplowe who became an immediate convert
to the Evisu ethos. They formed a partnership to develop
Evisu outside Japan that now spans the globe, selling
in 400 of the world's best boutiques and department stores.
Despite this phenomenal growth Evisu still remains true
to its artisan roots with a fanatical devotion to quality
and authenticity while maintaining those two other vital
ingredients of the Evisu magic potion - humour and irreverence.
Evisu has spent the last 10 years developing their jeans
to be as authentic as today's vintage jeans can be. All
Evisu jeans are made of vintage selvedge denim. This means
that the denim is made on old style shuttle looms rather
than modern projectile looms. In simple terms this means
that the cross thread in the weaving process goes back
and forth during the weaving process. But modern looms,
shoot each cross thread through individually, hence the
edge of the cloth is frayed rather than clean. No shuttle
looms have be made for over 40 years as they can only
make cloth about 30 inches wide whereas projectile looms
can make fabric 60 inches or even wider for much less
money. All the looms that make Evisu denim are practically
antiques and about as reliable as a 50 year old car.
Because the fabric made on these looms is so narrow Evisu
need approximately 3 yards to make each pair of jeans.
To maximise the usage, the traditional method was to have
a straight outside seam and cut right up to the selvedge
so that when you turn the jean up you see the two selvedge
edges of the denim stitched together. You can also see
it on the inside of the coin pocket. Also, all Evisu denim
is indigo dyed by loop dying machines. Again, these are
rare and ancient machines which basically feed a rope
of cotton yarn through vats of indigo dye and then back
out and up to the roof of the factory to allow the indigo
to oxidise before the 'rope' goes back down into the next
vat.
Evisu denim has a minimum of 16 dips and some styles
have 30 dips, hence the deep blue colour. Evisu use 100
cotton threads which are more authentic but break more
easily during the sewing process. They reproduce the original
production techniques at every stage. This means using
a large number of specialist sewing machines which have
not been produced for many years. For example, Evisu chain
stitch the hem which gives the thick stitch line visible
around the hem when you turn the jean up. This requires
a special machine which again has not been produced for
40 years. Wherever possible Evisu try to use Union Special
machines which were the Rolls Royce of sewing machines
in the US in the fifties. Many of our styles then have
the logo hand painted on. As a result of all this and
a host of other details relating to every raw material
and process Evisu jeans cost many times the price of normal
jeans to produce.
Why do they bother given the extra costs involved?
In simple terms it is the result of the Japanese fascination
with details and because everybody associated with Evisu
from Mr. Yamane (the Japanese owner of Evisu) down are
denim 'maniacs'. This is Yamane's term by which he means
something like having obsessive, almost trainspottery
love for denim. Denim produced on shuttle looms is naturally
irregular and these irregularities come out as the jeans
fade, making every pair develop into a unique and beautiful
pattern as it fades. The deep blue colour and the way
the jeans fade can only be achieved by using the loop
dying system and all the other details give the jeans
a combination of authenticity and the knowledge that you
have something that is a labour of love that no other
jeans or probably any other item of clothing, in the world
can give you. Evisu understand that for many people these
things are not important but for those who appreciate
this level of craftsmanship, we believe Evisu jeans are
worth every penny.
The Evisu web site has some games to play – but
only in your lunchtime and only if you’re wearing
Evisu jeans of course.
Web site : www.evisu.com
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