Samurai Jeans — S0511XX 15oz — Review & First impression

Japanese denim always possesses an admirable image among denimheads. The foundation is laid by Osaka 5. These days, there are reproduction brands like Fullcount, Warehouse, etc and contemporary brands like Pure Blue Japan, Oni Denim, Tanuki. I am seeking for something in between. A brand which not only creates vintage-vibe but also bears a wild characteristic and interesting details. That brand is Samurai Jeans. Rumour has that the brand will not be releasing raw version of their articles soon, so I took the chance and scored a signature pair of them. S0511XX Otokogi denim.

Samurai Jeans S0511XX 15oz — The jeans stand on itself.

Fabric

Otokogi denim was what made me pick this pair. The fabric characteristics are neither exaggerated nor uniform, it is just right. The fabric is clocked at 15oz and looks like a snowy dark night by the look and mildly rough by the feel. It said that normally mills will try to use medium or long staple cotton to smooth out the yarns and create a soft to the touch fabric (like Fullcount denim). But in this case, Samurai Jeans added more short staple cotton to make the yarn even rougher. This maybe the reason why we have many cotton tufts on the surface (neps). When I put it on for the first time, I felt like wearing some thick ancient paper or a thin potato sack. The fabric was actually stiff. During wears, it is said to soften considerably and the neps will be smoothed out. Below are photos of the fabric. You can spot the neps easily on the reverse side.

Dark, neppy, rough and full of textures.

Neps are more visible on reverse side of the fabric.

I did 2 hot soaks. 1st soak was with hot water at around 60’C for 45 minutes with mild agitation. The water turned to a brownish yellow colour like Oolong tea, with some of the cotton neps at the bottom (makes the appearance even more similar to tea).

The water turned brownish yellow after the hot soak

Looks like Oolong tea

2nd soak was with lukewarm water for 45 mins and this time the water did not get much colour. Finally I soak the jeans one more time with tap water hopefully to get the maximum shrinkage.

After it was completely dried out, the fabric had become even more rough and stiff, but less hairy. However, after about 20 mins walking around, I felt pretty comfy with the fabric. The itchy feeling was still there but it was not as stiff as before. The colour did not change much but I strongly believe the soaks will help fasten the fading progress. After 2 hours, the creases formed in pretty quick and clear. Lets see how it will evolve overtime. I will do an update post when the time comes.

Fit

Even though it says 511 fit is sim tapered, I feel like slim straight. I usually wear oversize jeans so I picked size 38 raw. Below are photos of how the jeans fit me right out of the box and after 2 hot soaks.

Before hot soaks — Front with tripple big cuffs.

After hot soaks — Front with triple big cuffs. Now the top block is fitting me right. Thighs and calves are roomy. I can move and even workout with ease.

Before hot soaks — Back with triple big cuffs

After hot soaks — Back with triple big cuffs. Exactly as I imagined before soaking it.

Before hot soaks — Side with triple big cuffs

After hot soaks — Side with triple big cuffs. Please excuse my clumsy pose.

I also note down the measurement (in inches) of before and after soaks.

Before: Waist 37.8-Front rise 12.2-Back Rise 15.7-Thigh 13.4-Inseam 38.6-Leg opening 9-Knee 9.8

After: Waist 36.75-Front rise 11-Back Rise 15.5-Thigh 13-Inseam 36-Leg opening 8-Knee 9.25

The inseam, front rise, leg opening and waist measurements shrunk down significantly. The jeans was baggy in the beginning but after the soaks, it fits pretty well. Personally I feel it is very roomy that I can even workout without any problems. And on the photos, the jeans do look straight but not baggy IMO. And I feel it still can shrink a bit more after another soak or wash in the future. The silhouette is pretty vintage and this is exactly what I am after.

Details & Construction

I’m not gonna talk a lot about the construction since everything is neatly sewn together. The whole pair was sewn together with cotton threads. Few colours are used for the thread but burnt orange is the main one. A lot of aspects belonged to Japanese culture are reflected on the details. Let’s check them out:

Leather patch with tons of Japanese iconic characters: legendary duel of Myamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro, Mt Fuji, seagull, etc.

Back pocket arc with the shape of a seagull, to me it’s more like two katana blades colliding each other. Red tab for a touch of vintage. If you get a special model, the first “A” will be inverted.

5 buttons fly — Rising sun image on the button. Hidden rivet with the term “Shogyo Mujo” (everything changes) on the back rivet.

Jacquard inner pocket with hidden terms will come up when indigo bleeds in. Denim “name tag” is sewn on the pocket. The selvedge line with silver ID represents a katana blade. And it really looks like it when the top of the selvedge are sewn.

Crotch area is neatly sewn with double stitching for reinforcement

Simple comparison between stitches on Pure Blue Japan (left), Samurai (center) and Stevenson Overall (right).

Last but not least — vintage chain-stitch on the hem.

Thought

This is my first pair of Samurai Jeans and I’m totally happy with it. The silhouette is pretty vintage and provides a lot of mobility. The details are so cool and they can easily depict Japanese culture together with a Samurai spirit. It’s hard to find any other brands which put so much efforts into these details. Bold but still sophisticated.

And the star is the fabric. At a mid-weight of 15oz, it possesses just a right amount of texture. Neither packed with slubs and neps feast nor too plain & uniformed. On denim forums, lots of photos have showed huge fade potential of Otokogi denim. I can’t wait to see it in upcoming years and I don’t think I need to wait for too long since this is a fast fader (just not as fast as the Kiwami 17oz denim).

Okayama Denim did a collab with Samurai Jeans, the “Legacy”. However, the fit was not for me and too many different details are packed in just one pair of jeans. I would like to stay with something truly classic. And this S0511XX Otokogi denim is the one. A vintage piece of garment that speaks out its Japanese spirit. A Katana blade that will stand the test of time to reveal its true beauty.