Craftsmanship

= Craftsmanship of Pure Blue Japan Denim =

Indigo Dyes
To talk about Pure Blue Japan’s jeans is to talk of their amazing craftsmanship. In other countries we take dyes for granted. Many of our items are dyed from synthetic dyes by machines in large lots. Pure blue japan uses traditional indigo artists to dye their jeans in small controlled lots. This is an art so cherished by the Japanese culture that the government has declared these artists to be a living natural treasure. The art is central in the Okayama prefecture, or the Kurashiki region. This is where Pure Blue Japan denim is created. Here, since 1600 the indigo color has been dyed to cotton fabrics. Each lot must be dyed by hand in large vats, the materials are expertly combined to create the exact color and then fermented for up to a month to bring out the depth of color. Each length of fabric is then placed into the vat and soaked for thirty minutes. When ready the artist wrings the dye from the fabric and hangs it to oxidize in the sun. This process must be repeated thirty to forty times taking as long as a year to fully dye one length of fabric. If you are in japan you would know if you met one of these artists as this process permanently dyes their hands a deep indigo color.

Vintage Weaving
Pure Blue Denim also uses unique cotton fabrics for their constructions. Using a special vintage, low-tension loom, with only single shuffle to create this uneven denim, Pure Blue Japan invests in their fabric. This is an intensive project with no corner cut. It take hundreds of hours of man power to create the weave. You can expect each piece of denim to weave uniquely due to the large amount of slub within the fabric. The fabric begins as a deep indigo but ultimately fades and with the fading comes amazing contrast and patterns. Production of these jeans is limited due to the loom being shut down during several months of the year, and only being produced by craftsmen in the oldest and finest mills in Okayama.