The National: Niche Specialists will take Denim Into the Future

Niche Specialists will take Denim Into the Future

Two of the world’s biggest players, Gap and Levis, have suffered runs of poor sales. According to the analysts Koncept Analytics, the market’s double-digit growth is gradually – perhaps inevitably – declining as sales channels reach saturation point in a general absence of innovation.

“When we launched 10 years ago there was nothing new happening in the market, just the big brands. Now we face the opposite situation,” says Palle Stenberg, co-owner of Nudie.  The company has recently made a foray into khakis – in part to offset the dip in interest in denim.  ”It feels like there’s no passion in the industry at all – just different brands trying to do the same thing over and over,” he says. “The market is saturated, in part because the internet has provided access to such huge choice. It won’t kill interest in jeans – but it will mean brands will come and go much faster.”

David added some interesting links in the comments:

Thanks for sharing this article it’s real interesting… reminds me of this one from 2009 http://www.synovate.com/changeagent/index.php/site/full_story/boot_cut_beats_black_tie

Oh you might be interested in this as well: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/Die-for-Lucy-Siegle/9780007264094
Her writing style might drive you crazy but she pulls together some interesting chapters.

Bandana Ice

A great idea to put an ice cube inside your bandana. I will try this when it gets hot enough.

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Source: Esse Magazine

Top Ten Jeans for Men

This GQ Article listing the Best Jeans for Men made me want to puke.

Kids these days need a bit of guidance. I’m a bit reluctant to do something like this, but here’s the Indigofan Top Ten Jeans. Actually it’s not a Top Ten list. It’s just a response to the GQ trash. Prices are approx. I’ve tried to focus on slim fits that are available online.

Slimmer cuts from the Japanese Kings…

1. Samurai S710XX19oz USD$325
www.samurai-jeans.co.jp
blueingreensoho.com
Heavyweight denim, Mid Rise, Slim Tapered Leg.

2. Flathead SE05BSP USD$345
www.selfedge.com
Slim Tapered. Selfedge have a number of Flathead options, all of which look good.

3. Pure Blue Japan XX-013 USD$268
blueingreensoho.com
Mid Rise, Slim Tapered Leg

4. Eternal 883 USD$275
blueingreensoho.com
Slim, low-rise

5. Sugar Cane SC2009 USD$299
www.selfedge.com
Straight slim fit

Cheaper Options for students…

1. Artist Denim USD$170
artistdenim.com
Slim-cut options, and denim options which include sugarcane fabric

2. Burgus Plus Lot.770 $150
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/hinoya/770-1201/
Straight fit. You may need to use a Japan proxy buying service to get these.

3. 3sixteen ST-100x $195
www.selfedge.com
Slim Leg Indigo Selvedge

4. Sugar Cane 1947 Type II USD$150
http://item.rakuten.co.jp/hinoya/sc42009-a/
Straight cut

Old men and aficionados… not slim…

1. OOe-Yofukuten
http://www.ooe-yofukuten.com/bottoms.html

2. Rising Sun
http://risingsunjeans.com/category/product/

3. Pike Brothers
http://www.pikebrothersshop.com/

Further reading…

There are a bunch of other brands that could be in this list, such as:
Evisu, Imperial, Studio D’Artisan, Roy, Rogue Territory, Strike Gold, Warehouse, Kapital etc.
A pair of jeans will last you a long time. Do some of your own research, and get something special.

Quilt

Ms Indigo has gone quilting crazy. She made this queensized quilt from mostly Japanese indigo fabrics. I think it’s pretty awesome.

The batting that we used for the quilt is bamboo. Benefits of bamboo: it’s organic, sustainable, and keeps you as warm as cotton in winter, but cooler than cotton in summer (I’m not sure how that’s possible).

Travelling Denim

” Traveling Denim ” Recording color fade for two years from Takayuki Akachi on Vimeo.

This is a documentary film that a girl wearing denim traveled over 50 countries in two years.
The denim walks freely in the world, meets people, changes and fades.

Takayuki Akachi Film Exhibition Tokyo
“The Time of World”
12/18 – 12/27 at minamiAOYAMA PLSMIS >> http://takayukiakachi.jp/tow

film by Takayuki Akachi >> http://takayukiakachi.jp
music by PEPE CALIFORNIA >> http://www.myspace.com/pepecalifornia

Via http://teddybearlumberjack.tumblr.com/
Via http://www.rawrdenim.com/

Shoe Lasts Australia

Following advice from Captains of Industry we travelled up to Thomastown to visit Shoe Lasts Australia.

It was interesting to see the remaining custom shoe last factory in Australia. As you’d expect, the market for lasts in Australia has been declining. Their main customers now are R.M.Williams, J.Robins, and custom medical/ortho. Almost all the new lasts are high-density plastic, so the wooden feet are rare.

Bruce was kind enough to take me around the factory and give me some advice on what to do, and he suggested that if you can make shoes well, he see there is a gap in the market for custom medical/orthopedic footwear.

I got off-the-shelf lasts for my whole family. I just need to drum up the time, tools, and courage to start trying to make some shoes.

Bandanna/Handkerchief Shell Print

The local shop had some cloth with a Japanese wave pattern. I thought I’d try making some bandanna/handkerchiefs out of it.

For my first attempt I tried to hand stitch a rolled hem. It was fun, but it was more work than I expected.

I hemmed the second one on the machine.

Ototo おっとっと

In Geology we studied the use of microfossils to date the layers in deep sea sediments. This is commonly used in petroleum and gas exploration.

Morinaga make a snack called Ototo おっとっと which is pretty much the edible version of microfossils.

They’re quite addictive. I think they would make the perfect beer snack.

Farewell Quilt

I recently left my job after six years. As a gift the staff gave me a stack of denim swatches with goodbye messages written on them. I joked that I was going to sew them into a big diaper for my daughter to wear.

Well, I didn’t make a diaper, but I’ve put them together into some sort of quilt, but I’m not sure what to do with it.