Founded in Osaka in 1998 by Tohru Nogami, Samurai Jeans is one of the more well established Japanese denim brands known for their rigid heavyweight denim fabrics and the wealth of details used in their jeans.
This is the first pair of Samurai reviewed here on the blog so I wanted to pick a pair that really highlights the denim and the details.
The S511BTX is inspired by the armor of a famous admiral, Nagamasa Kuroda.
Cut: Slim Tapered. A medium rise with a nice taper down the leg. Not an aggressive taper but more tapered than straight.
Measurements:
Fabric: 17oz. unsanforized right hand twill rope dyed black warp and perssimon dyed brown weft. Woven in Japan. This denim starts out rough and crunchy, especially after a soak. Great creasing behind the knees for good honeycomb fades. The brown weft pops through the black warp just enough to give this denim a very beautiful and original hue of brownish black. This denim is a great argument for anyone who thinks black denim is boring or not as interesting as Indigo denim.
Details:
- “Matsunoki” 5 button fly
- Black herringbone pocketbags
- Deerskin patch featuring and image of Admiral Nagamasa Kuroda
- Branded copper rivets
- Brown weft side exposed watch pocket with peekaboo selvedge
- Red Samurai tab on back pocket
- Yellow and orange stitching with red bar tacks
- Samurai pocket arcs
- Hidden rivets on back pockets
- “Coin” branded rivet tacks
- Red stitching on button holes
- Red and silver lamé line selvedge ID
First Impressions: The denim used on these jeans is really, really nice. I haven’t seen denim with this combination of color, weight and texture before. This is definitely not a subtile pair of jeans. The yellow and orange stitching on black denim really pops and may not be for everyone but will be perfect for someone looking for something other than a stealth black pair. To me these jeans have a very Japanese cut, mid to low rise with moderately roomy top block and thighs, tighter at the knee with a mild taper to the hem. This pair has the longest inseam of any jeans I have ever seen, clocking in at 40″. Serious stacking possibilities!
You can purchase this pair from Okayama Denim here.
~ The Denim Hound 12-17-17
