Blue Blue Japan SS2017

Posted on December 20, 2016 by Styleforum Editors

The Blue Blue Japan SS2017 lookbook has just been released, and we’re pleased to share it with you. For the spring season, Okura’s house brand has gone slightly punk, with Western-style patchwork jeans, souvenir jackets, Doc Marten-style 10-hole boots, and even braces – all dyed indigo, of course. Even the boots, which look aIn addition, they’ve showcased some beautiful gradient dye-work, which is really a house specialty. While you can still expect to find all your favorite Blue Blue Japan standbys – such as beautiful patchwork garments and hefty sashiko – it’s nice to see the brand take a more directional approach for their seasonal lookbook. As usual, there are some stellar women’s garments, and the full breadth of Blue Blue Japan’s offering really deserves a look, if only for the sheer intensity of their dye work. A slideshow selection is below, but you can see the full catalog, and even order directly via email, here.

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All photos courtesy Blue Blue Japan/ Seilin & Co.

Black Friday: Jasper’s Picks

Posted on November 25, 2016 by Jasper Lipton

Wow, sales season really came in like Miley Cyrus this year. At this point in my life, I have a pretty short list of clothing I want, and a lot of it doesn’t go on sale that often. That said, this Black Friday has kind of thrown me for a loop, and I’ve managed to grab some pieces I wasn’t expecting to see (I’m not complaining. Your tastes may certainly differ, but here are a few pieces I think are worth capitalizing on this year. Don’t forget to look at our list of all the Black Friday Sales worth your time to see sales codes for the below webshops.

Kapital Century Denim at Blue Button ShopBlue Button came in YUGE this year. I almost feel bad. They’ve got 30% off of all stock with code THANK30, which means you can pick up a pair of Kapital’s incredible Century Denim for 265 USD shipped, which is about the same as it would cost you to proxy the same pair from Kapital in Japan. If you’ve ever wanted a pair, I’m not sure I can remember seeing a better deal.
Viberg Boots at Blue Button Shop

Did I mention that Blue Button came up big time? When’s the last time you saw Viberg Boots for 30% off? That puts several models just under 500$ shipped with code THANK30, which is nuts, even if the models on offer are pretty basic. Jump on this, people.
Comme des Garçons Parfum at Notre ShopAgain, 30% off what is (in my opinion) a great fragrance that doesn’t often see discounts. CDG’s incense series is a fantastic blend of natural and synthetic aromas; meant to invoke human spirituality in a way that is both immediately recognizable and undeniably otherworldly. My favorite is Ouarzazate, but Kyoto is great as well – heck, at 67$ a bottle after the coupon code, you might as well buy all four.
Sashiko Shop Coat from Blue Blue Japan at No Man Walks Alone
How could I make a list of any kind without at least one indigo-dyed item? This shop coat from Blue Blue Japan was a stand out piece from this fall’s collection, and the sashiko fabric with natural indigo dye makes for an incredible color and texture. Did I mention that No Man has it for 371$, which is a must-buy price? No Man’s entire sales list is slightly bonkers, but these pieces are beautiful and unique, which will go a long way this winter – and well into springtime.
Marimekko “Nimikko Mikko” bathrobeHailing from the land of the Moomins, Marimekko has long offered pop-inspired prints to households that skew towards the nouveau Scandinavian. I have a soft spot for the loud stuff, but these simpler bathrobes are equally fun. Do as Marimekko suggests and wear yours after a long, relaxing sauna.

Sashiko Fabric: The Elegant Heavyweight

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Jasper Lipton

“Sashiko” is translated from the Japanese as “little stabs,” and refers to a traditional form of needlework often used for decorative mending. The technique gained emerged within Japanese peasant classes in the mid-1800’s as a way to increase the longevity of the heavily-used hemp and cotton garments they relied on. Running stitches were used to decorate as well as reinforce layers of fabric, most of which were cut from older garments or scraps and reused in a quilting technique called boro, or “tattered rags;” at least one example of which is now a necessary staple in every Styleforum member’s closet

Sashiko fabric, however, is a much more recent development (and is the product, almost universally, of mechanical looms). It refers to a tightly-woven cotton fabric reinforced with a equally tight running stitch of embroidery-weight thread that imitates traditional sashiko needlework.

The weaving technique ensures that objects made from sashiko fabric will be able to take a beating – both literal and figurative. Sashiko gi are the traditional garb for aikido, judo and kendo practitioners, and act as an added layer of (light) protection for the wearer. Although many garments used for gi are bleached and left white, sashiko fabrics are also commonly dyed in indigo. Folk wisdom holds that naturally-derived indigo is an anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial agent (and that it keeps snakes away). I’ve yet to see clinical proof, but being covered in blue dye can’t hurt. Right?

Although they come in various weights, most sashiko fabrics are heavy and utilitarian, and its use in contemporary garments generally reflects that fact. Outerwear and the occasional heavy pant are where you’ll most often find it, and a handful of companies offer street clothing made from the hard-wearing fabric.

It’s a characterful fabric to be sure. Not only is the texture very distinctive, but the fade patterns (oh, yes – we must talk about those) result in beautiful contrast after some heavy wear. But more than that, one of the things that I like the most about the sashiko chesterfield I own (it’s from Blue Blue Japan) is that it’s a good stand-in for a leather jacket. Like a hide, it’s tough at first, but with use will soften up and mold to your body. It’s not as restrictive, either, which depending on who you are I suppose could be either a good or a bad thing. Plus, you can wash sashiko garments in cold water the way you would a pair of denim. Here’s how mine looks after a couple of years of wear:

Speaking of Blue Blue Japan, they’re a favorite of the Styleforum editorial team (and carried at affiliate No Man Walks Alone), and they offer several sashiko garments, including chesterfields and a great hunting jacket for this season (you can read about our visit to their showroom here). So does Gaijin Made, another Seilin brand. Kapital makes a range of sashiko-reinforced denim that they refer to as the “Century” line. Luxire, another Styleforum affiliate, now offers a sashiko jacket as well. Newer brands, such as Nine Lives, attempt to marry American heritage with Japanese workwear traditions, which results in clothing such as a sashiko-gusseted yak leather rider’s jacket.

The point is that, if you’re interested in giving sashiko a shot, there’s probably a piece of clothing out there that will appeal to you, whether it’s one of Blue Blue Japan’s more elegant pieces, or a rock ‘n roll indigo leather from Nine Lives.

: BBJ’s hunting jacket at No Man Walks Alone

: Nine Lives’ Yak Rider

: Kapital “Century” Denim

One final note is that most sashiko garments, by virtue of the fabric weight and thickness, are relatively heavy and structured. They’re also often backed with another layer of cotton canvas, so don’t expect a great deal of “drape.” Instead, you get some nice creasing effects that really come to life as you wear the garment in. Do note that the weight of these fabrics varies depending on what the maker has in mind, so I recommend inquiring with a retailer before you buy. For example, Blue Blue Japan is offering a lighter-weight sashiko fabric this year that appears as a beautiful women’s robe-style overcoat, and some of Gaijin Made’s outerwear is designed to be lightweight.

Regardless of the garment, sashiko fabric is made to last. It’s abrasion-resistant, and despite being a cotton weave it’s tight and thick enough to use as a winter layer in many climates, especially when worn on top of a heavy knit. If you’d like to make a sashiko garment part of your wardrobe – and I recommend it – expect it to last a long time. And wear it hard, because that’s the point.

Styleforum Visits Evan Kinori

Posted on September 25, 2016 by Styleforum Editors

“I don’t like calling it workwear,” says Evan Kinori. We’re standing in his beautiful studio loft in San Francisco, and I’m trying to do the horrible media thing where we pigeonhole something special using as few words as possible.

“It just has so many strong…connotations,” he finishes. “Let’s call it…well-made clothing for everyday life.”

This intentional vagueness is a better descriptor than my SEO-verified marketing lingo. Evan Kinori’s line of beautifully clean and comfortable garments is vague, in a pleasant way – even anonymous. Built for everyone, to wear everywhere.

The garments are familiar on first look: a chore jacket. A four-pocket pant. An overshirt. But it’s the details – or their absence – that make the clothes special. Consider the four pocket pants that I wear while writing this. No one but me will ever see the corduroy waistband facing or the veg-tan leather-backed buttons on the fly. Few will appreciate the beautifully finished seam that shows when I roll the pant cuff, or the subtle darting of the waist, or how good your hand feels in the pocket. It doesn’t matter: I appreciate these gestures, and that’s what matters.

Consider also Evan’s reversible denim jacket, a design he’s played with a handful of times since launching his brand. Denim on one side, and wool (or twill, or whatever strikes his fancy) on the other, the jacket is fully reversible – including double-faced buttons to preserve the left-sided buttoning stance, should the wearer want to swap them. Said wooden buttons are hand-dyed in indigo on the roof of the building.

We could certainly draw parallels to other brands, such as Margaret Howell’s chic utilitarianism or even Adam Kimmel’s short-lived workwear experiments, but that would be short-sighted. The back wall of Evan’s studio displays a collection of beautiful vintage garments, ranging from patchwork noragi to Swedish military anoraks to vintage baseball shirts, and that intelligent cosmopolitanism is much more illuminating of the product than sideways references to other brands. Evan tells me that it helped that he “Knew what he wanted to make” before going to patterning school to learn how to make it. He has taken available inspiration, stripped it down, and re-focused the results – and the results are polished.

Evan’s studio, courtesy evankinori.com

Details: the 3-pocket jacket and 4-pocket pant in rinsed denim.

The clothes themselves are something of a blank slate, made to showcase the process and the fabric. They are beautiful as individual objects, and Evan takes great pride in the clean construction. Each piece is billed as looking “just as nice on the inside as it does on the outside,” and it rings true for everything I saw. Beyond that, Evan encourages various styling options. He himself prefers to wear an oversized pant with a tighter top, but his website shows how items fit across a range of sizes. The pair of pants I purchased are effectively one size up, but many people buy two full sizes up for extra roominess.

Various offerings on display at the studio.

Evan calls the seasons his “editions.” Each piece he makes is part of a numbered run, and once they’re gone there’s no guarantee they’re coming back. He’ll keep the pattern – say, the four-pocket relaxed-leg overpant, based on a US Navy model – but change the fabric as inspiration strikes him. This season it’s a black Japanese twill, and he’s done rinsed denims, double-indigo twills (the pair I own), and un-dyed twill.

After laying out his ideas and his fabric on the massive drafting table at the back of the studio, he sews the samples and some of the retail pieces himself on an unassuming Juki sewing machine. The rest are produced by a small factory in LA, but Evan double-checks each piece before sending them out to the handful of retailers he works with: one in San Francisco, two in LA, and three in Japan.

He’s focusing on growing the brand slowly, hand-picking his partners the same way he hand picks the fabrics. Because of it, the brand is intensely personal and intensely compelling. This is one young maker I recommend keeping an eye on – despite the familiar shapes, the clothes are forward-looking, and it’s my guess that we’ll be seeing more of Evan in the near future.

Evan’s most recent releases are up now on his website, including a lookbook featuring the new products. Here are a few shots, but you can see the full thing, as well as several beautifully-shot videos, at EvanKinori.com.

You can watch a great video on the reversible jacket here, courtesy of Jack Knife and Evan Kinori:

Evan Kinori • “The Reversible Jacket” from Jarod Taber on Vimeo.

STOCKISTS

Currently, Evan Kinori is stocked at the following retailers:

– Reliquary / 544 Hayes St, San Francisco, CA 94102

– RTH / 529 & 537 N La Cienega Blvd West Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA 90048

– County Ltd. / 1837 Hyperion Ave Los Angeles, CA 90027

– Loftman / Loftman B.D. (Kyoto) & Loftman COOP UMEDA (Osaka)

– Lantiki / Kobe & Tokyo Locations

– CPCM / Tokyo

Sunday Styles: Urban Patchwork

Posted on September 25, 2016 by Styleforum Editors

outfit-grid-5

1. Indigo wool CPO from Apolis

2. The Cast 2 in Terrain Indigo from John Elliot + Co.

3. Granddad shirt in Apache from Freemans Sporting Club

4. Viberg Service Boots from No Man Walks Alone

5. Larose Paris Zip Fedora from Need Supply

Blue Blue Japan F/W 2016

Posted on September 6, 2016 by Jasper Lipton

I’ve been sitting on the photos from the Blue Blue Japan F/W 2016 presentation since back in January, when we saw the collection in Paris. It is, in short, beautiful; showcasing the same brilliant tones of indigo we’ve come to expect, but introducing some new fabrics and silhouettes. Happily, we’re finally allowed to share what’s new.

We saw Blue Blue Japan at the Marziano Bello showroom, alongside brands such as Camo and Simon Miller (itself doing some very nice things with indigo and sashiko fabrics this fall). We were their first appointment, which meant that everyone was barely awake – especially me, but including Sunjin, the bubbly woman who was our contact and the self-described “Korean Hostess” of the showroom, with whom I am 100% in love.

Although there are familiar items – quilted vests, sashiko chore coats and jackets, thick cotton knits – there are also some new shapes that are a bit more elegant than the workwear that tends to make it to domestic stockists. Knit blazers and quilted vests verge into the realm of what is offered by modern workwear brands such as ts(s), but retain the playfulness and ease-of-wear that defines Blue Blue Japan. Shirts continue to be excellent, and act as showcases for the masterful dye variations the company can achieve.

My favorite offering from the showroom is a new, softer-weight sashiko fabric, which Sunjin showed off in the form of a shawl-collared robe/coat hybrid. Weight-wise, it falls between the heavy work fabric used for BBJ’s chore coats and the very light fabric used in the women’s quilted pieces. As opposed to the stiff, hard wearing sashiko we’re used to in the men’s jackets, this fabric is thick but supple, and the robe doesn’t feature a heavy canvas backing. She told us the fabric was chosen specifically with women’s pieces in mind, but I hope that the robe-coat makes an appearance in a size big enough for me to wear.

Blue Blue Japan is interesting in that it offers such a wide range of clothing, which I assume comes from Seilin Co.’s manufacturing reach. The flagship store in Tokyo, Okura (which I’ve written about before), shows the full range of products, but hidden within the azure racks on display in Paris were the occasional pieces made from duck canvas; hunting-style jackets and some other shirts and pants. Admittedly, much of the clothing is overpowered by the indigo theme of the collection, especially when you’re not looking at it with the intent to stock a store. It’s hard to get excited about beige when the indigo is so exceptional. Nevertheless, there is variation in both color and tone, and the collection is, as usual, very wearable from head to toe even if just about everything is bright blue.

Lovely depth of color on the new sashiko fabric, which Sunjin models below.

The soft sashiko robe, my favorite piece from the collection. Behind Sunjin you can see the stunning range of blues, quilts, and sashiko fabrics on display for F/W 2016.

Here, Sunjin shows off a plaid coat featuring faded indigo overstitching, which is how the embroidered blazer on the table will eventually appear. The cotton threads fade at a different rate to the rest of the fabric, resulting in contrasting shades of blue.