Samurai Jeans

Founded by Toru Nogami in Osaka in 1997. Thick denims (19oz to 25oz+), among the most spectacular fades on the market. Samurai inspiration in every detail (rivets, patches). Woven on vintage shuttle looms, selvedge. Osaka/Okayama manufacturing.

Toru Nogami started in 1997 in a one-room apartment in Nishinomiya, near Koshien Stadium, east of Osaka. The repro movement was going strong in Japan, everyone was copying Levi's, and Nogami arrived late knowing it. So he decided to do something else. He started at 15oz when the standard was 13.5oz. He was told it was stupid, that it would never fade, that nobody would want it. He kept going. 17oz. 19oz. 21oz. The threads to weave denim that heavy didn't exist, they had to be created from scratch. Dyeing, shuttle looms, everything rethought from zero, starting from the thread itself.

The name came from an obvious place: Japanese spirit equals samurai. Rivets are engraved with historical motifs, patches tell episodes from Japanese history, every model is a miniature history lesson. Nogami moved HQ to Osaka ten years ago, Umeda district. The building looks like a house, local grandmothers don't even know it's there. Inside, Nogami, silver spiked hair, Samurai aloha shirt, works at his computer. The team constantly wears and tests everything, every remark feeds continuous improvement. "100% satisfied? I'll be dead before that happens."

In 2008, a night at the bar with friends. Sake flowing, a question emerges: if the cotton is Texan or Zimbabwean, are the jeans really Japanese? Nogami decides to grow his own cotton. First attempt in Okayama: total failure. It takes three years and a move to abandoned fields in Sasayama, Hyogo prefecture, to harvest enough cotton for a single pair. The Japan Cotton Project was born. It's probably the craziest project in world denim.

Among enthusiasts, Samurai is revered. The fades on the S510xx in 19oz and 21oz are among the most photographed on the forum. Violent contrasts, electric blue, the kind of results that convert heavy denim skeptics. Iron Heart is the only credible rival in this category. Stockists: Japanalogue, Denimio, Self Edge, Okayama Denim. Nogami will never talk about his mill, and he's right not to.