Category: Indigo Veins collab jeans

Fade update: Two years later, here’s an update of the Indigo Veins GBG001 collab jeans I made together with Göteborg Manufaktur and Shingo-san from Denim-Base.

It was a lot of fun to do this collab with my good friends Jonas, Olof and Shingo. But also to see how the jeans turned out.

Wearing the Indigo Veins GBG001 collab jeans

I wasn’t all gung-ho for the full time period with the GBG001 jeans but they’ve seen plenty of wear. At least a full year by now. And there’s so much life left in them, they’re just about to hit my personal sweet spot. Another year and they’ll be nothing short of amazing.

The marbling is just great, much like I had hoped when we were in Saitama, checking washed and worn samples, at Shingo’s workshop.

Another favorite is the button fades from the doughnut buttons we used. The shape of the buttons edges helped getting that neat, sharp fade.

Next up I’m waiting to see the patch fall apart a little more. Leather patches are nice and all that, but a crumbling paper patch is pretty great.

If you want to see more of how these jeans faded, you can always head to the contest thread on Superfuture. Lots of great samples there.

Say hello to the team behind the collab jeans GBG001.

A couple of weeks ago I told you about the idea of our new collab jeans that I’m making together with Göteborg Manufaktur and Denim Base. How they came to be and what they’re like.

But perhaps you’re interested in getting to know some more about our good friends that will make the jeans for you? Let’s go on a ride behind the scene.

Say hello to Shingo-san of Denim Base

Shingo-san is a massive denimhead, or denim-baka like he says himself. Baka translating to “nerd” in Japanese. For many years he has run the denim blog Denimba.com. Back then he used to work in the harbor, just another denim aficionado wanting to share his love of denim with his peers.

Five years ago he started his own brand Denimbridge and has released five models so far (six with our collab included), ranging from classic wide straight cuts to slim straights but also single needle pairs of which you can choose your own details and Shingo-san sews himself in his denim base in Saitama, one hour outside of Tokyo.

If you want to know more about Shingo-san, I did an interview when I first met Shingo-san in 2017.

Say hello to Kuniyoshi-san of Double Volante

Our one man-show that will sew the jeans is a veteran in the game. In 2008 he started his own brand Double Volante and is working out of his workshop on Okinawa. I got interested in Kuniyoshi-sans work through his work for Studio D’Artisan and Denimbridge but he also does tailored jeans to customers specifications.

Before moving to Okinawa however he already had 10 years in the business under his belt, working in a sewing factory in Okayama, doing work for brands like Denime, Kapital and Samurai.

It definitely feels great to have one of the best in the business sewing our jeans.

Say hello to Sai-san, the pattern maker

Sai-san is a good friend of Shingo and our pattern maker. Previously Sai-san used to work for Edwin Lee and also was a part of the old Warehouse x Lee collection. Feels pretty fitting, don’t you think? With parts of our GBG001 jeans being inspired by old Lee models and all.  

Say hello to Sakamoto denim

Have you read the nice story about Big John’s Rare jeans on their website? It’s definitely worth a read but for now we’ll stick to the part about Sakamoto denim, the dyeing factory that we’re using for our fabric. Being founded all the way back in 1892 in Hiroshima and working with indigo dyeing since then it is easy to say they know their craft very well.

But Sakamoto denim is not only about their immense heritage. They are one of the companies that have played a big part in the evolution of indigo dyeing in Japan, for example being the first company in Japan to mechanize the rope-dyeing technique and is pushing the industry in regards to sustainability, using electrolyzed water to dye in room temperature and have a sludge process to minimize the waste.

Hopefully you enjoyed this little peek behind the scenes and getting to know the team behind the collab jeans GBG001. We’re getting closer to the final deadline of preorders which closes on June 15th. Don’t sleep on it and join in on the fun.

Finally, the Indigo Veins x Göteborg Manufaktur x Denim Base collab jeans GBG001 are here! Like I mentioned a few weeks ago I’ve designed my very own jeans together with my good friends at Göteborg Manufaktur and Shingo Oosawa that runs Denimbridge and now also has the brand Denim Base together with Kuniyoshi-san of Double Volante fame.

It all started in Tokyo

A trip to Tokyo in 2017 paved the way for the endeavour. During the trip I got to know Shingo Oosawa, founder of the small scale denim brand Denimbridge. A few months later we set the project into motion. The planning started for the new partnership with Göteborg Manufaktur, Indigo Veins and Shingo’s new brand Denim-Base. Denim-Base is a brand Shingo-san runs together with Kuniyoshi-san, mostly known for his own one man-brand Double Volante and sewing of Studio D’Artisan’s Champloo series, and Kana-san that runs denim brand El Canek.

Family made GBG001 jeans

The jeans are made by small family businesses all the way, from the dyeing factory in Hiroshima to Kuniyoshi-san that sew all the jeans himself on Okinawa, is also an important piece of the puzzle that connects Japanese heritage and craftsmanship.

The inspiration

A big source of inspiration for the GBG001 collab was jeans of the 60’s. The fit is smart with a mid high waist and enough room in the thighs. But still, it drapes down in a nice way giving the jeans a slim look.

All of us love vintage details but we never set out to make a 100 % reproduction. We’ve taken the details we love and thought could work well together in order to make a modern pair of jeans that still has the essence of times past. For instance, the jeans feature olive herringbone pocket fabrics, something you found during the 40’s. Lee’s backpockets from the 40’s was another inspiration. And the lack of hidden rivets and a paper patch stems from the 60’s.

The details of GBG001

There are many geeky details on this pair. For starters, Yamaashi mill in Okayama weaves the 14 oz fabric on a Toyoda shuttle loom. It’s a unsanforized (loomstate) fabric that Shingo developed exclusively for his brand. He strived to get as close as possible to the vintage vibes of old Cone denim and I think he got close. The fabric is a tightly woven twill made of blended American cotton. It gives the vertical falling you see on for example vintage Levi’s. At first it looks even but once washed the fabric crocks and you get more texture from the warp threads that pops.  

The very light pink selvedge-ID is another geeky detail. The ID is not located in the same place on both ends. On one end it is in the center and on the other one it is dead close to the indigo threads. You can in rare cases find it on vintage jeans.

Wo chose an olive herringbone fabric for the pocketbags. It is my favorite of the different materials that were used during the 1940’s, when companies had to use whatever was at hand.

They will also rock specially made Denim Base top buttons made of iron and copper rivets.

One of my favorite tiny details is the coinpocket. Instead of the usual shape we went with a small spade pocket, like the backpockets. Something no one will notice except the wearer himself.

The paper patch

The GBG001 collab jeans feature a specially designed paper patch with the harbor cranes from Gothenburg. The design choice has a deeper meaning with Gothenburg having Swedens largest harbor, connecting us with the rest of the world. Much like a bridge and what Shingo-san wants to accomplish with his brand Denimbridge.

All the way back to the early 18th century trade ships travelled the globe to Asia before returning to the harbor of Gothenburg. For Japan, the trading between the countries began in 1886. So for us it makes sense with Gothenburgs historical connections to Japan and our harbor.

Where to kop?

If you want a pair for yourself, the pre-order is up via Göteborg Manufaktur. Hopefully you’ll like them as much as we do, because I can’t think of anything I would like to do differently!

Have a look to see how the GBG001 jeans turned out after maybe a year of wear so far.