Japanese Denim, London Style

Snake & Dagger,

I think this brand will do well, mainly because of the washes. Why? Well, there are a lot of good denim brands out there with attention to detail like selvedge, chain stitching and more of that denim bla bla. But, a lot of these brands trust that the details and attention to quality will be enough for them to survive. Here I think they make the mistake.

The real denim lovers are a niche market that will probably stick to the authentic brands like Levi's, Lee and Wrangler just to name a few. They can occasionally be tempted to go outside their comfort zone and buy something like a Japanese brand such as Momotaro, Samurai, Denime, Evisu etc. Furthermore, these guys know the principles and details of premium denim and the tradition of buying it raw/ unwashed and have it wear and tear to your body shape. My point here is that if you aim for this demographic you better bring something very special or it is not going to work.

The general public that appreciates a nice denim but is not an addict, like the above category, will not get exited about a good raw denim with tons of detail. I'll go one step further and say they will not even notice the detail. This demographic will however respond to wicked washes. This is something they notice and can understand on a basic level without needing a history lesson on denim.

So my advice for denim brands is to come out with wicked washes. Example: the PRPS brand, a basic denim from this particular brand will sell for around 350 euro and 90% of their denims are not even made from selvedge denim. Why do PRPS denims sell out everywhere? Because they basically do the best washes on the market.