What ‘Made in Japan’ means to Realign Denim
Japan is a fascinating country with a distinctive culture, unique traditions, and one vending machine for every 23 people. The country is known for its traditional arts, fantastic architecture and mouth-watering foods. Japan is a country of respect, strict social hierarchy and of continuously innovating, which are all firmly interwoven in the society.
This innovative mindset has morphed itself into a desire to always keep improving, to keep moving and to never be satisfied. Japan is one of the leading countries in the world by way of technological developments and is responsible for tens of inventions that we use on a daily basis. And as with technology, Japan applies the same meticulous detail, attention, craft and care to their denim.
Japanese Denim
While Japan doesn’t have nearly as long of a history with denim production as other countries such as the USA, Japanese denim has become known for its unparalleled quality and traditional production processes. Ever since the first pair of ‘Made in Japan’ jeans was introduced in approximately 1973, the denim industry in Japan has continued to focus on enhancing the fabric and fine-tuning age-old techniques, while the rest of the world was focused on making the production quicker and the fabric cheaper.
In the decades that followed, Japan built a reputation for itself as being the eminent country of authentic denim. Japanese denim fabric is now known for its high quality, structured texture and rough hand-feel. Characterful and oozing with personality, the denim is much like the country itself – a perfect balance of old and new, conservative and liberal. It treads a fine line of authenticity and the contemporary, resulting in a product that is the finest in the world.
Realign Denim – Handmade in Japan
Before we even put one design on paper, we knew for that our denim had to be made in Japan. We wanted to commit ourselves to an industry that has been elevating denim to new heights. We wanted to create a pair of jeans of an unparalleled high quality, made with an incredible eye for details. A pair of jeans which will last for years and only get better with age. And the only country we could possibly think of was Japan.
When we started to develop Realign, we made it one of our most important missions: ‘Creating a pair of jeans, which was locally and traditionally produced in the Kojima region of Japan’. When the preparatory work in the Netherlands was finished, we went on a sourcing trip to Osaka and Kojima in order to find a manufacturer for our jeans who understood our vision on denim and who could meet our high standards of quality. Eventually we found this in our partner Japan Blue Company.
As to our fabric supplier, we committed ourselves to Collect Mills, which ensures that Realign has continuous access to textbook authentic, irregular and slubby Japanese selvedge denim of the highest quality.
In our search for an entirely ‘Made in Japan’ jean, we also teamed up with the Japan-division of the world class hardware supplier YKK, who is taking care of our buttons and rivets. Realign hardware is an integral part of the durability of our jeans and seamlessly fit with our philosophy on denim and approach to production. In addition, we also found a small and local Okayama-based weaving company who are producing all of the brand’s woven labels. We set out to leave no stone
‘Made in Japan’ is inseparably intertwined with the Realign philosophy and means so much more than just being the country of origin to us. ‘Made in Japan’ is our promise to always achieve the highest quality and to make our products with an obsessive attention to detail and to never compromise. It is our promise to produce responsibly and to make well-considered products in small batches to limit the environmental impact and waste materials. ‘Made in Japan’ means that all people involved in the Realign supply chain are receiving a fair wage and that our makers are being taken care of. ‘Made in Japan’ means everything to us, ‘Made in Japan’ is what we are most proud of…
Realign. Superior Denim, Well-made in Japan.
The first entirely ‘Made in Japan’ Realign jean is available for €300 at realigndenim.com, including free worldwide shipping. Head over to the Realign website to learn more about the brand or to purchase one of the first pairs from our debut collection.
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