• Style
    • Menswear
    • Accessories
    • Grooming
    • Style Inspiration
    • British Made
    • Collaborations
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Cars
    • Watches
    • Food & Drink
    • Arts
    • Events
  • People
  • UK-Made Menswear
  • About
  • Press

Grey Fox

A mature search for style. Fashion and menswear for all men.

Rivet & Hide - Recognising Mastery in Japanese Denim - Sponsored by Mazda

Thursday, 18 April 2019

I was recently invited to visit London's Rivet & Hide to find out more about Japanese craftsmanship in the production of quality denim from the store's founder and owner, Danny Hodgson. One of London's leading shops for denim and other Japanese and British-made goods, Rivet & Hide is a treasure trove of high quality casual wear selling names such as Iron Heart, Pure Blue Japan and The Flat Head from Japan, Hiut Denim from Wales and Dawson Denim from England (links below).

Danny Hodgson of Rivet & Hide

The Japanese denim industry is in general small scale, the cloth being woven in small workshops on vintage Japanese-made looms which weave narrow lengths of cloth 80cm wide with a selvedge that's used in the construction of the jeans, the contrasting edge giving interest to the seams. The workers in the denim workshops often have years of experience, bringing long-acquired skills to the production process, making it a craft rather than mass production.

Woven generally with an indigo warp and undyed weft, the denim acquires a highly textured and irregular finish, much prized by denim aficionados who prefer the interest this gives over the more regular finish of denim woven on more modern and sophisticated looms. 

Japanese raw denim before (R) and after breaking in

Rivet & Hide's roots lie in Danny Hodgson's passion for denim and the skills that lie behind its manufacture. He obviously loves the appearance of the cloth, how it ages with use and talks knowledgeably and in detail about its manufacture in the UK and Japan. 

The Japanese love affair with denim started with vintage US clothing taken back to Japan where the manufacture of denim was adapted and made into a skilled art by Japanese crafts people who appreciated the unique creative properties of the cloth.

Most denim lovers prefer their cloth 'raw', that is unwashed. In its loom state it is neither washed nor steamed or stretched, as 'sanforized' it is stretched and steamed, but the subsequent changes to the appearance of the cloth occur during wear and are down to the owner. Often owners won't wash their jeans until a patina of use has appeared. This may sound unpleasant, but a quick blast in a freezer or airing them in the fresh air keeps them sanitised until the first wash once they're broken in. The effort is worthwhile and highly valued jeans will have the marks of mobile phones on the pockets and every crease will reflect the owner's shape and the history of his or her wear of the jeans.

Japanese denim showing the prized texturing and wear of a fine broken in pair of jeans

This feature is sponsored by Japanese car company, Mazda who, like me, are inspired by the craftsmanship that goes into making any product, whether it be a Japanese car or a length of denim cloth. 

Here on the blog I often draw parallels between the craftsmanship required in industries like cloth, leather and knitwear production with the manufacture of items like watches, cars and jewellery. The products may be diverse, but the skills, years of experience and pride in making things are the same in each factory.

It doesn't matter what products are being made; skills, pride and experience are the same and this is recognised by Mazda who are launching an all-new Mazda3 which embodies these elements of Japanese production from the sleek design to the SKYACTIV engines and technology. In the image below a Mazda worker shows some of the skills and experience required to prepare the clay model that will form the shape of a new model.

Shaping a clay model during the design process of new Mazda

Link to the all new Mazda3 website

Rivet & Hide

The Flat Head 
Pure Blue Japan
Iron Heart 
Hiut Denim 
Dawson Denim

With Danny Hodgson at Rivet & Hide

Share:
Labels: menswear, style inspiration
Newer Post
Home
Older Post
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Vuelio Top 20 Fashion Blog 2023

Vuelio Top 20 Fashion Blog 2023

Follow

Search This Blog

Popular Posts

  • The New Land Rover Defender After Three Years
    A year ago I reported (below) on my first two years ownership of the new Land Rover Defender, which I bought in late 2020 and which was deli...
  • The Rules of Style & Buttoning Your Waistcoat
    From time to time people contact me to complain about one or other aspect of a look that I've posted on Instagram. The last I received t...
  • The Royal Wedding: Morning Dress and How to Wear it
    So you're going to the Royal Wedding this weekend or to a more lowly one over the spring/summer, or maybe to an event like The Investe...

Categories

  • People
  • lifestyle
  • style

SARTORIALAB

SARTORIALAB
Personal Styling Service

Grey Fox on Pinterest

Visit Grey Fox's profile on Pinterest.
Powered by Blogger.
© Grey Fox · Theme by xomisse