EDWIN DENIM HISTORY

Edwin Jeans is an old brand, its history goes back to the second world war when a denim fanatic called Mr Tsunemi seen a gap in the Japanese market, his passion for denim was such that he started to import the denim direct from the far away shores of the US of A, at this time there was no denim made in Japan.
What he would do is take worn, dirty and used denim (we would now call it vintage and sell for a premium), he would have it all altered and fixed by workers then send it to the laundrette to be washed and cleaned, then it was ready to be sold onto his keen denim customers.

1951 -The first time that denim was available and manufactured in Japan would have been about 1951, the main problem it faced would have been the fact it was more expensive and the quality was not as good as the American made equivalent, they were stiff and the fabric easily shrank, you need to remember the Americans had been making Denim for close to 50 years by this point, so had accumulated 50 years of experience.

This was not acceptable to the denim fanatic Mr Tsunemi who through his passion and drive for denim decided to create his own denim.  Mr Tsumeni decided that enough was enough and denim wasn't getting used to its full potential, there were very limited fit options, so he decided more sophisticated fits were required for the denim hungry Japanese market, he also realised that the bog standard rigid blue wash was not enough variation and different washes would help bring denim to the mainstream market. His number 1 priority was to raise the quality level, he wanted them to be bullet proof and indestructable, his reputatiuon was to be made using the ethos behind Levis Strauss with their workhorses trying unsucessfully to rip a pair of Levis.
So from this time in the history of Edwin Denim the company was to be build on Innovation, Quality, Craftmanship and integrity have been the ethos of the brand and the reason Edwin Denim is still at the front of the Denim market, where it leads, others follow.

1961 - The first pair of EDWIN denim jeans came to light in 1961, at this point Mr Tsunemi crafted the first pair of the now famous Edwin Denim Brand. 
For a brand the hard part is coming up a good name, Evisu used to be Evis, the L was dropped because Japanese could not say LEvis, they asked for Evis.  So whats a man meant to do, tell you what why doesnt he take the letters D E N I M, turn the letter M upside down make it a W, jumble them about a bit and voila there you have EDWIN, nothing complicated there, so what bigger homage to denim can you give than to call your brand an anagram of denim, the Edwin Denim brand was born.

1963 - Fast forward 2 years to 1963 and Edwin had managed to make a 16oz ringspun denim jean, at the time this was a record as no-one had produced a 16ox denim before, this denim was easily distingushable becauseit came with the now famous three-colour selvedge, which you can still see being used today in various Edwin denim

1970's - Denim had become synonomous with James Dean and the Wild Bunch and things changed in the 1970's when Edwin were the first brand to create an 'old wash', at the time it was revolutionery, it was the first time someone made denim that looked like you had owned then for months or years, at last you did not need to break your denims in, the pain was taken out for you.  It was the first time the rigid unwashed denim designed with durability in mind for the workwear market came broken in.

1980's - Another first for Edwin came in form of 'stone washing' no big deal to us, but back in the day it was mind blowing, so much so that the whole denim industry was revolutionised, it was turned on its head and this pivotal moment in denim manufacturing caused an evoloution equivlent to the moment the monkey turned into man, it was that huge. 
Every denim brand in existence was changed from that day on, especially Levis, who capitalised and made their name from it.

1990's - Stonewashed had been and gone and people had started looking back, it was Edwin who created the 'new vintage' denim idea, take old vintage styles and recreate them, simple yes and this craze got a whole generation into vintage denim excited about pre 1947 designs, big E, selvege and into the history of denim.

You can check out the Edwin Europe website at www.edwin-europe.com.

EDWIN Denim Glossary

Indigo: Is the colour used to dye denim, it is taken traditionally from the Idigofera tinctoria plant. Since 1911 a synthesized version has also been available.

Dying Process: The cotton is dyed via a “living” fermentation Process, Which reduces the Indigo from Blue to Yellow.
Once in this state the cotton is Worked or dipped into the vat of liquid. When exposed to air it is a bright Green coulor which
over time develops into a rich indigo Blue.

Selvage (or Selvedge): Is the white woven edge on both edges of the fabric width which prevents unraveling. This traditionally would mean that a old 29 inch shuttle loom was used. These days this can also be replicated by modern looms but the quality is not close to the original style.

Listing: Is the coloured thread running through the Selvage band that was used to identify the denim to each company.

Edwin has it’s own Rainbow listing which comprises of three colours  (orange, yellow, turquoise.)

Left Hand Twill: Notably the twill line starting at the top left of the fabric  falling to the bottom Right. Also has a softer
hand feel than right hand after wash.

Right Hand Twill: Traditionally used denim woven with a diagonal twill line which rises from left to right. (Starting at the top Right of the fabric and falls to the bottom Left of the fabric.

Leg Twist: Is the natural adjustment of the fabric which will follow the direction of weaving due to the shrinkage. Associated
with Vintage denims

Skewing: Introduced in the 1970’s Skewing is the process invented to prevent the “LEG TWIST.”

Sanforization: Introduced in early 1900 it is the process which shrinks and stretches the fabric in length and width,
Which stabilizes the fabric before it is then cut.

Singeing: Is the process of burning away the hairy surface of denim.

Anti-Fit: is a way of cutting the rise of the jean in a straight line (as opposed to curved)which gives the Anti-Fit jean its recognisable ‘top block’ (the section of the jean that goes from the waist to the crotch). It came about as a result of trying to reshape the Overall and cutting them down to a pair of jeans. Overalls are not cut to follow the body but rather to ‘hang’ on it, and so the Anti-Fit cut that doesn’t follow your body shape. Benefits of anti-fit are Greater comfort, and less wear on the seat.

EDWIN Denim Care

Denim is a great product but when you buy raw or rigid denim there are a few things you need to know and take into account.

Every denim product over time will fade and the dark blue colour you loved will fade and mellow int o lighter shades, this is a factor in the Edwin dying process.
After several washes the loosing of colour will stop and they will be broken in and fit to your body shape.
With Raw denim DO NOT sit on white couches and stuff as there may be a transference especially when wet.  Try, try and try not to wash them until you need to, the longer you wear raw denim the better it will look and the better it will fit you, when you have given in and need to wash them, you should wash them seperately and make sure you wash them inside out.
Edwin employ the time consuming but the right way to dye denim, they use natural indigo to dye the denim and give its rich natural Indigo colour. The Indigo used at Edwin is no normal Indigo but a special variety that is only found and harvested in the are of Japan called Tokushima.

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