Samurai Jeans, mostly Natural Indigo news
There is always something unique coming from Ósaka based Samurai brand.
This time there is a new jeans: Samurai S500AX 18oz AI PLUS .
Let's decipher the name:
S500AX - it is a semi-slim straight jeans. A comfortable top block, relaxed leg and a slight taper from the knee down.
18oz - eighteen ounces of pure cotton. Samurai Jeans people call this cotton rough and weft yarn is mixed with their own Samurai cotton (grown domestically in Japan - you can read about this interesting project on Japanologue)
AI is a short form of word Aizome. And that is the name for natural indigo hand-dyeing process. In these jeans there is a blend of natural and synthetic indigo used. The result is very nice dark blue color of the fabric. You can expect a slower fading that on standard Samurai denim. But still there will be high contrast due to the rough cotton used.
The next beauty is Samurai SSS20-01. Again, the fabric is very original. Both warp and weft are dyed by natural indigo using a traditional Kasezome dying method. There is a diamond shape sashiko stitch pattern which makes this shirt even more unique. Kasezome is the art of skein dyeing, a hand dyeing method by wrapping undyed yarns into a loose coil and dipping them into a vat of Indigo (in this instance). The yarns are dyed to the core while still retaining their original texture, a feat only possible when the yarns are meticulously dyed by hand.
The are metal buttons which we hve seen but there are new, bigger chest pockets which was a really good move. Overall, well fitting shirt with one on the most special fabric you can find.
and yes, there are new teeshirts with characteristic Samurai prints. One white and one black. Superb quality.
