BLUE GENES

Fireman's short coat [with quilted prints of firefighting scenes] in Edo Era

Amazed by Japan's Indigo Dye, the famous Greek travel writer Lafcadio Hearn (Yakumo Koizumi) once said:"Japan is a country full of mysterious blue". This deep and serene blue known as "Japan Blue", has long taken its root among the populace. Used in kimono, firefighter uniform, work clothes and many others, the vintage feel created by the wearing of the garment and the fading of the color was considered chic among the people of Edo. It offers a glimpse of the affinity of the Japanese towards Indigo and the delicate sensitivity unique to the Japanese.

Shuji Tsunemi (now president of EDWIN) who came back from studying in the U.S. and came to succeed his father's clothing shop was the one who respected the traditional Japanese culture of indigo dye and incorporated the idea of fading into jeans for the first time. He distributed secondhand jeans he bought from the States and washed, and realized that the essence of jeans is in its fading effect and that there is something interesting about its process. Tsunemi modified the genes of jeans, which remained unchanged for 100 years in the States so that they fit the body shapes and lifestyles of the Japanese people, and succeeded in giving them new values. The jeans that were given a faced look by washing gave birth to fresh look and style. The innovative fusion of Japanese sensibilities with its culture of indigo dye and the culture of jeans is what built EDWIN's jeans today. The washing process of jeans, which has now become the world standard, and the condensing of time that creates fading, are EDWIN's roots. If the States are the birthparents of jeans, it could be said that Japan is the foster parent of jeans in a sense that its sensibilities gave new values to jeans.