New to Donna Ida this month is Japanese denim label Evisu.
Evisu was launched by Hidehiko Yamane after he came to the realization that quality denim, the original, was impossible to find on the market. During a trip looking for vintage pieces, he came across a 1950s American loom capable of weaving forty metres of a “selvedge” denim a day. Yamane had an idea: why not make exceptional jeans for connoisseurs like himself? So the Evisu adventure began. In 1988 Yamane – who calls himself a tailor, not a designer of jeans – created a cult product.
He originally called his jeans Evis, after the Buddhist god of prosperity, and they were made in Osaka from pure American cotton. He personally painted his famous seagull logo on each article, a long and expensive process that only produced a dozen jeans a day. Meanwhile in the early 90s, the vintage trend took on and his jeans were growing in demand. In 1997 Evisu jeans took a leap forward when they were made on licence in Italy with the famous Japanese denim.
Today the little Osaka trademark has become famous all over the world.
Scott Morrison who has designed for Paper, Denim & Cloth and more recently Earnest Sewn has now joined Evisu as head designer so expect to see great cuts and classic tailoring.
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