A conversation with King-Yu Yiu about his new custom-made Utility Chore Suit

London-based high-end fashion designer King-Yu Yiu is widely regarded as one of the world’s most dedicated denim enthusiasts and a master at documenting his denim journeys. Since our first interaction on Instagram, we have stayed in touch and had countless conversations about denim and design — though, unfortunately, we have yet to meet in person.

King Yu Yiu first came onto our radar when he wore a pair of LEE 101Zs to their limits — and beyond. He eventually wore this pair of jeans for an astonishing 1,338 consecutive days, carefully documenting the fading process every step of the way. His second project, which we have been following closely, was a custom-made Workman Overall created in collaboration with a renowned denim manufacturer. Below, King reflects on this journey and reveals how many continuous days he has worn this set.

Soon, King will start a new chapter with his Utility Chore Suit, which he has been developing in collaboration with renowned British makers. Unlike his previous projects, this suit features a unique and unconventional fabric. However, his philosophy of ‘graciously destroying’ the garment through continuous wear remains the same.

Be sure to follow King-Yu Yiu on Instagram to keep up with his denim journey — and trust us, you won’t want to miss the stunning fades that are guaranteed along the way!

Robin: Dear King, it’s been a while since our last conversation. How have you been, and what exciting projects have you been working on?

King Yu Yiu: Hi Robin, it’s always a pleasure reconnecting with you; I appreciate your ongoing support. In a nutshell, this year in particular has been quite hectic with the frequent travels between London and Naples; I’ve been flying out every other week so I’m starting to even feel like a Neapolitan (not necessarily a bad thing considering with all the wonderful flavours we get to enjoy!)

In addition to my work at John Richmond, I’ve been collaborating a lot with various boutiques and galleries on my personal paintings. I’m also in the process of an exciting illustration series which I hope to share soon.

And above all regarding my love affair with denim; the constant exposures working directly within the industry, I’m lucky to be able to get a solid scope of what the current situations on the markets are experiencing across the globe. Bearing with all this information in mind, I’ve counted myself fortunate enough to have the luxury of taking a step back and slowing things down in order to reflect on my next set after the “Workman Overall”.

Robin: Before diving into your new project, let’s take a moment to reflect on your Workman Overall. When we last spoke, it had already seen over 800 days of wear. How many total wear-days did you end up with? And could you share some photos of the final fades?

King Yu Yiu: In the end, I’ve managed to wear down my jeans for 1,339 straight days. They are now archived in the safe hands of Reudi in Switzerland. 

It’s mad we haven’t met face-to-face yet (including ourselves as well!) and to visit the world’s famous Jeans Museum — hopefully next year will finally be the year we will all get together.

Robin: 1339 days of continuous wear — that’s incredible! From the photos, it looks like the overalls have been through a lot. Did they require many repairs to hold up for that long?

King Yu Yiu: I decided to keep it ‘au naturel’ so I braved the “0” repair policy…!  As you say, for it to hold up all those months without any repair works has been quite surprising in comparison to my previous pairs.

Robin: What design elements or functional details did you incorporate into the Workman Overall that helped it last an incredible 1,339 days of continuous wear? Will you be carrying any of these features into your new project?

King Yu Yiu: I kept my first set ultimately very ‘classic’ so to speak – but with a strong focus on sustainability and conceptually creating a set that was as environmentally friendly as possible which Crystal Denim specifically specialised in. The upcoming new set will very much have its own characteristics and direction.

Robin: “Let’s shift our focus to your new project, the ‘Utility Chore Suit.’ Can you share the story behind how this project came to life? Did you collaborate with other denim makers or factories along the way?”

King Yu Yiu: As we both know, there’s a considerable amount of beautiful denims out there already; I questioned to myself if there really was the need for me to create yet another Indigo set, especially with what I have already accomplished during my 7 years collab with LEE Jeans.

After numerous pages of jotting down ideas and sketches, it helped me come to the conclusion of what I personally considered as to what today’s luxuries are – and that is ‘rarity’ –  a reminder to myself to always follow my ethos from the start of when I launched King-Yu Yiu: simply craft the best and long-lasting denim Jeans possible.

So I dove back into my library and revisited the world of Military Workwear; digging deep into my archives (thanks to Vivienne Westwood and Hidehiko Yamane for the materials they’ve gifted over the years) and to rediscover this fascinating subculture. It’s incredible the amount of purpose that goes into each garment, industrialising pattern cutting and fabrics to reduce wastage to a minimum (for example, most shirts and jackets internal facings feature the selvedge meaning it’s calculated to utilise the full width of fabric.) I’m impressed by the intricacy of details that’s been put in and the making to its highest quality.

This exploration resulted as the baseline to conceptualise my second set. “Combining Utility with Sartorialism”.

This time around however, I felt it was crucial to source as many local “ingredients” as possible. After months of research and communication, I had the rare opportunity to work with Britain’s top outerwear manufacturer, Cookson & Clegg.

After nearly half a year of developing the “Utility Chore Suit”, I’m proud to announce a prestigious collaboration together with Cookson & Clegg –  now owned by Patrick Grant. Originally founded in Blackburn in 1860, the firm started as leather curriers and boot uppers manufacturers. By the 1930’s, they were producing jerkins, flying helmets and other leather products for the British Army. Over its 150-year history, Cookson & Clegg has evolved from producing leather products to manufacturing some of the world’s most robust, functional and iconic pieces of clothing — from WWII battle dress to Cold War-era arctic wear. More recent brands including the likes of Nigel Cabourn, Burberry and E. Tautz under their belts.

It’s a privilege to work with one of the best workwear manufacturers in the UK, if not internationally. A huge thanks to Victoria and her team at Cookson and Clegg, they have all been absolutely wonderful throughout the entire process; I am grateful for everyone’s efforts and endless hard work that instrumented my two-piece set to life.

Robin: Could you share some insights into the fabric and construction of the suit?

King Yu Yiu: Just 5 miles down the road from Cookson and Clegg – there’s a beautiful cotton weaving mill in Colne, Lancashire called Mitchell Interflex. They have a rich tradition of weaving fabrics for the military and who had the capability to weave a traditional denim twill. I also learned about the Blackburn Yarn Dyers, who have been dyeing yarns for the military for generations —they even dyed the gabardines for classic trench coats. With Cookson and Clegg  factory making clothes for the British army from the 1930s to 2009; to me it just made sense to combine the two bases. 

I’m intrigued to witness how the ‘wear-down’ will look in khaki this time. The 14.5 oz. military denim is woven with an olive drab yarn over a pale ivory-ecru, which should create interesting hues and tones.

Robin: What standout features does the Utility Chore Suit include? Are there any specific elements for added durability, given your track record of destroying denim garments.

King Yu Yiu: Just to highlight main features of the “Utility Chore Suit” – Key seams are constructed through triple needle topstitching—the authentic and (very) labor-intensive way whereby each row of stitches are sewn individually. Along with my signature raw thread ‘floats’ hanging on each ends – a homage to the myth I’ve once been told that these were at times left long on purpose (most likely by the worker’s wife) so that they can pick-up the same remaining yarns to make any further minor repairs.

The silhouettes are straight-cut on both the jackets and pants, giving a very pronounced over fit. Like most workwear pieces – for the comfort of layerings.

Big credit to my amazing pattern cutter, Fran. From one of her many suggestions, she repositioned the shoulder seams towards the back panels. This way, when it rains, water will slide off instead of hitting the shoulders as the first point of contact, reducing the chances of water seeping through the seams.

We’ve carefully engineered the back panel side seams for (my) perfect fit plus with ‘arched’ patched pockets along the entry line – gaining extra comfort for hands when rested. Fran’s tailoring is faultless.

The factory did a fantastic job in upgrading and armouring the pocket bags together in self denim — rather than the usual cotton drill which would only survive approximately 7 months before the holes start distressing through…

1930’s detachable butcher buttons in ivory resin finished with gold trimmings – sourced specifically in two parts – one set from the wonderful team at The Vintage Showroom and the shanks from another great Military memorabilia collector in Lancashire. (Putting the two together was a great reward after weeks of sourcing!)

And to top it all off, the ‘7’ carpenter belt loops have all been reinforced with bounded herringbone tape.

Robin: “Thanks for sharing all the details about your latest design! When do you plan to start wearing the Utility Chore Suit? And are you aiming to wear it as long as you did the Workman Overall?”

King Yu Yiu: We’re finalising the remaining touches as we speak and we aim to launch the 2nd set of King-Yu Yiu in the New Year which I look forward to sharing with you all; to “graciously destroy” the two pieces (and of course for as long as possible).