The TCB S40’s WWII Contest
On the 1st September, TCB launched their S40’s WWII Contest on Superfuture. This is the third contest that TCB has hosted and this time around the brand chose to use their S40’s jean, which is based on a vintage original S501XX pair of denims. With over 200 enthusiastic participants from all over the world, all sharing the same passion for denim, the contest is already off to a great start.
The Two Cats Brand
The Kojima-based denim brand known as the ‘Two Cats Brand’, or TCB for short, has a dual meaning as it also stands for ‘Taking Care of Business’. Founded by Hajime Inoue in 2012, Hajime-san has been a huge fan of vintage denim for decades and was heavily inspired by iconic denim pieces from the 1920’s to the 1960’s. Since then, TCB have continually taken care of business by producing exact reproductions of early to mid-Twentieth Century workwear garments. With a focus on fabrics and functionality, TCB clothing is so thoroughly considered it’s only next best to the real (vintage) thing.
Photo courtesy of Koen Kuik.
The Contest
One reason for the brand to organize the S40s WWII contest is to increase communication, interaction and participation with and from its customers. For Japanese brands it can be hard to build strong relationships with the overseas customers, due to a significant gap in language and culture. But TCB wants to do things differently and that’s why they’ve organized their third contest. With Ryo – a Japanese denimhead who used to live in Amsterdam – now on board and supporting the brand’s communications and developments, TCB tapped into Superfuture in order to communicate the event and enlist the participation of its customers.
Launching the contest on Superfuture (also known as Sufu) was a logical consequence of the strong friendship between TCB and Michael (a.k.a. Volvo_Sufu on Superfuture). Michael was the very first customer of the brand in 2013 and has been hugely supportive from that moment onwards. He is one of the early members of Sufu and a friend of the organizer of the forum, so together they created a smooth plan for the contest. And just as importantly, there is a core group of denimheads on the forum who are continuing to build, communicate and share their passion for raw denim. So with all these key ingredients, the stage was set for this fun, energetic and hands on contest!
Click here to head over to the S40’s WWII Contest thread on Superfuture
Photo courtesy of Koen Kuik.
The Jeans
So why did TCB choose their S40’s jeans for the contest? Well, the answer isn’t as romantic as you might expect; the brand chose the S40’s because they have been preparing this model for the past few months, so it came at an appropriate time. But of course, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t the perfect pair for the contest!
The S40’s jeans are an authentic reproduction of an original pair of Levi’s S501XX jeans. The cut, construction and every tiny detail is faithfully reproduced from one of the vintage pairs of jeans that inspired Hajime Inoue to start the brand. The belt loops, buttons, hidden rivets have all been reproduced and meticulously placed on the jeans to ensure authenticity. In addition, even the stitching (including some mis-stitches in the original vintage pair of jeans) has been copied exactly. The only difference between the S40’s and the original vintage model is a custom leather patch made by TCB for the contest.
The 14 oz. denim fabric has been woven from EMOT blended cotton (which is a blend of cotton from Eastern Memphis, New Orleans, and Texas) with hard twisted yarns that have a lot of ‘nep’, giving the fabric a solid texture and handle. The unevenness of the threads are carefully reproduced by altering the settings of vintage Toyoda shuttle looms used to produce the denim. The hard-twisted yarns prevent the core of the yearn from being penetrated with indigo, making this fabric true to the denim of the time, as well as giving unique fading properties.
Photo courtesy of Koen Kuik.
The Rules
The set-up of the contest is simple and there are no specific rules, the participants can wear the S40’s jeans however they like from September 1st 2020 until February 2022. It’s that simple! Participants are permitted to wash, wear and repair the jeans as much as they would like. Other activities that are allowed – but not necessarily recommendable – are scuba diving, painting, bodybuilding, or going on holiday (once flight restrictions ease up!). When we asked Ryo, responsible for communications TCB, for some closing words about the contest, he said the following:
“The greatest thing about this contest is that we have more than 200 participants from all over the world. We have participants from the USA, UK, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Canada, Italy, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, France, Switzerland, Finland, Scotland, Mexico, Belgium, Taiwan, and Japan! Each country has a different climate, humidity and way of life. The water or the detergent used in a country could even affect the fades on the jeans. In addition, we have participants with a variety of jobs such as steel welders, carpenters, musicians, a professional surfer, a tattoo artist, a physics teacher, jean makers, a fabric weaver, etc. It’s going to be one hell of a fun for any denimheads to see how one’s lifestyle affect the fades of their jeans. It’s like an Olympics of jeans fading!
The TCB S40’s WW2 contest promises to be a fantastic contest with great fades guaranteed, and we at Robin Denim will follow it closely. Swing by at the S40’s WW2 contest thread on Superfuture to follow the journey of the 200 participants, or head over to the TCB webstore to learn more about the S40’s contest jeans – which will soon be restocked!
Photo courtesy of Koen Kuik.
Photo courtesy of Koen Kuik.
Photo courtesy of Koen Kuik.
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