Unique Garment “Rain Drop” Jeans 1001T — Denim review & impression — Texture is spiritual not science
2020 was a year when big denim brands came in full swing. Anniversaries, limited runs, collaborations, you name them. However, the items I can see in the market are still separated into two tips of the spectrum. Either they are too playful, fashionable or over-engineered (fabric), or they are classic, repro but at the same time, predictable.
2021 comes and I wonder if there is anything out there would surprise, amaze me or it will be the same. Then UNIQUE GARMENT (UG)drops its very first release “One vision — Sixth Sense” collection with their signature denim and t-shirts.
Corlection was very kind to let me know about their new brand and release, so I can come and have a look. They are beautiful and unique garments indeed. It was a pure pleasure when touch, feel the items and listen to Lee explaining about the ideas and concepts behind the brand. Now I’m so excited to write a review about their debut denim — “Rain Drop” jeans in their Tapered cut. Let’s travel to the Unique Garment universe.
Ideas & Concept
It would not mean anything if we just look into the jeans without knowing the reason why it was brought into existence. UG stated that “Our vision is to fuse the creativity of free-thinking fashion and true high-quality products”. To my humble understanding, they want to join two tips of the spectrum i.e. being fashionable & high-quality. Imagine we will have a piece of garment which has the Supreme-level of design AND last you a life time when being crafted by vintage machines and techniques in Japan. That piece is definitely unique, isn’t it?
When I looked at the flasher, I think it explained the brand’s concept better than anything.
The background looks like a lab with the product being a pill. The red-pill has the veins around it, looks like a beating heart. And inside that heart, is a pair of faded jeans. How cool is it? My interpretation here is, although we need science to create a great pair of jeans (fabric, construction, etc.), at the end of the day, how the jeans turn out depends pretty much on the individuals who wear it. Those individuals will care, love and fade the jeans in their own ways. And the jeans will represent their owners’ lifestyle, beliefs, by its texture, wear and tear marks. That’s why “TEXTURE IS SPIRITUAL NOT SCIENCE”. Everything in the end comes out from the heart. And the heart is the “INDIGO WE TRUST”.
Just the flasher to start, but I can feel the heat now. Let’s talk about the star of the show here. The fabric!
Fabric
This first proprietary fabric from UG is “Rain Drop denim”. It is unsanforized, right hand twill, woven in Okayama. Warp is grand-indigo dyed and weft is left natural. According to UG, it has two core properties. Outside, the fabric is textured in form of “Rain drops” (vertical slubs). And inside, it is soft and comfortable. Sounds interesting? But just read the info would not do any justice for the fabric. So I touched, felt, wore and took the photos of it. I’ll do my best to give you the idea of how marvellous this fabric is.
Before the soak
The fabric is packed with a lot of characteristics. Running my fingers through it, I feel slubby, rough, a bit bumpy but some areas are quite smooth (oily?) at the same time.
And have I told you the fabric is clocked at 13.2oz? Yes, you heard that right, 13.2oz!
To my knowledge, fabric texture and weight is a trade-off. You have one thing, you need to give up the other. But not in this UNIQUE case. When I touched and felt the fabric, it was light. But I though it was around 14 ~ 15oz. And when I’m told it’s 13.2oz, I was dumbfounded. I was like “WTF!!! This much texture packed in 13.2oz fabric?”.
When I’m home, I just took out my Fullcount 1110, Fullcount x Corlection 3110, SOC Imperial 120 (which all weighted around 13oz ~ 14oz) to do a quick comparison. And yes, the UG jeans does feel lighter. I even took some photos for comparison here.
Although the UG denim is lightest, it has considerable texture compared to the others. FCxCorl3110 has more “coarse” texture, but these areas are quite separated whereas UG denim texture is more consistent and streaky. And most of us already know how uniform the texture of FC flagship denim is.
Compared with the SOC’s denim, UG denim is more textured. Even when my SOC denim is pretty faded, the vertical streaks are more subtle and the surface is smoother.
OK, that’s enough comparison. We are taking a closer look into UG denim after the cold 45 mins soak. I’m really curious to see how the fabric will transform.
After the soak
I dried the jeans completely in two hours. The fabric transformation is dramatic. The subtle oily smoothness before soak is completely gone. It is now a bit hairier, super starchy and crispy. The texture is intensified, more profound. Apparently, the denim has just revealed it’s true self now. Although the texture is more intensive, it looks and feels “natural”. I mean in some cases, when the denim is “over-engineered” to have a more recognizable and interesting texture, we can feel the “intention” when touch or feel the fabric. Look at below photo, we can clearly see that there are ups and downs on the fabric, slubs and hairiness. But all the unevenness is distributed consistently and nothing exaggerated.
When I put it on, it was like wearing a pants made from sandpaper. It was so stiff that the jeans can stand on itself. Before this, the lightest weight denim which can do so after soak I’ve ever seen was the Corl x The Flat Head x Real Japan Blue denim (14.25oz). This UG denim has broken my personal record.
However, this state will be gone in just around 30 mins wear. The fabric will be soft, flexible and comfortable inside. It will break in nicely. But the warp side remains rough. The fabric itself has verified UG’s statement in their Instagram post!!!
Fit
So UG has nailed the fabric IMO. And how about the fit? In this debut, UG released 3 cuts: Slim, Gym, and Tapered. “Slim” cut has a low rise, slim profile from top block to hem. “Gym” is the cut in between “Slim” and “Tapered” which will give you more room in the top block but quite aggressive tapering, resulting a “carrot” look. I picked “Tapered” cut which gives me the best mobility.
Size 35 fits me nicely, so I picked size 36 and do a 45 mins cold soak. Below is the measurements before and after soak.
Size 36 — — — — — — Before — — — After
Waist — — — — — — — 36.25 — — — — 35
Front Rise — — — — — 11.5 — — — — — 11
Back Rise — — — — — 16.5 — — — — -16
Thigh — — — — — — — 13 — — — — 12.75
Leg opening — — — — 7.5 — — — — — -7.5
Inseam — — — — — —34 — — — — -32.5
I think I can even do a warm soak, but it will be a snug fit. Below is photos before and after the soak.
I’m 176cm and 90kg. This “Tapered” cut turns out to be a very nice fit for me. In terms of mobility and comfort, I have no complaints about it. I tried some outdoor activities (just not that extreme!), gardening, squats, office long-hours sitting and it’s totally a pleasant.
Talking about the cut itself, it is similar to a classic straight cut with a mid-rise, but has a gentle tapering from knee to hem, for a modern look. I like how the back yoke is set to provide a slightly curved top block. Very classic silhouette. After the soak, the front rise is 11'’ and back rise is 16'’. This creates a “slope”. Personally, I like it because I can tuck in my shirts for office work without worrying the back of the shirt will be un-done.
This “Tapered” cut will not give me a “sleek” look but it looks clean, nice and surely will provide great comfort and mobility. I can wear it casually with sneakers and tees or dress-up a bit with leather shoes and shirts.
Construction & Details
Overall, the construction and sewing on the jeans are done by vintage machines and techniques. So that they are solid, clean and aesthetic.
UG uses pure cotton threads for a vintage vibe. Major part of the stitches are in burnt-orange colour, the other is lemon and the edges are overlocked with white stitches. The needlework is just impeccable with high stitches-per-inch count. They run smoothly throughout the jeans and looking at them is a pleasant. But I have not shown you the best part of the stitches yet!!! Have a look at this.
The UG has pushed the sewing to its limit by performing a double stitches on the back pockets. This is a complicated way to enhance the durability that I have only seen the similar thing in two other brands: The Flat Head and Big John (their RARE jeans). I believe these stitches are not merely to enhance the durability, but it is a way that UG puts their brand image on the jeans instead of using an arcuate. Look at the hidden rivets, they are quite raised with the curve stitches. A long rivet may be used here to make better reinforcement and also create a 3D effect that makes it looks like a mouth of a lab-tube. So the whole stitching of the back pocket will look like the “U” lab-tube — the UNIQUE GARMENT logo. No arcuate, just a plain pocket but we will all know it’s a UG jeans. Any smarter way to do this?
Let finish this part with the remaining details:
Fly buttons are made from silver-coated iron. Top button is engraved with UG logo “U” (represents science) and the message “Texture is spiritual”. Other buttons are engraved with also a “U” but in a heart-shape and the message is “not science”. So the whole thing is “Texture is spiritual not science” with contrast icons and messages in each button. What a way to lay the brand’s slogan into those buttons…
These buttons will sure shine out under good light condition, creating an elegant touch to the whole jeans. The buttons will get a rusty look over time but Lee told me we can also polish them up with a cloth. Buttons’ tacks are left plain for a minimalism look.
Impression & Thoughts
Denim has been my hobby for few years. I do not consider myself as a collector or denim expert or a denim-head since I am not one. But I would say I have tried on quite a few pairs from reproduction brands to more contemporary brands. So not that many jeans would impress me much, as a whole garment. But this time, saying I’m impressed with UG Rain Drop jeans would be an understatement. When I came to Corlection, touched and tried the jeans on, I knew I wouldn’t leave the store without it. It instantly became my favourite.
The UG jeans itself has proved the brand’s vision statement to be true. It possesses both fashionable characters and vintage build and quality. We have a interesting lightweight fabric which is comfortable inside and textured outside. I’m not sure about the secret here but I bet it will fade beautifully with wears and washes. The construction is top-notch with meticulous needlework that will hold up the pair for the long-haul.
We have three cuts that will fit nicely most of the body builds. Considered as a fashion item, the jeans express an high-end aesthetic appearance with elegant details with top quality material. I have not seen any jeans that have silver-coated fly buttons before. Not to mention veg-tanned horsehide for the patch. Sounds crazy right? Everyday when I look at the jeans, I found out some new things, like playing a game with many Easter eggs to discover.
Corlection has been my denim to-go place for few years. Having conversations with all the denim aficionados about our mutual passion always is a pleasure. Lee told me once: “I like fabric weighted from 13oz to 14oz but has a lot of texture. It’s hard to do it, but we will find out a way.” And back in 2019, I asked him whether Corlection was thinking about having it’s own brand and he said “Yes, we are thinking about it”. Turns out it was not just chit-chat. Corlection seriously did it.
I do not know how much effort and resources Lee and his colleagues have invested on this project, but they did pull off a terrific work. From incepting a concept to developing fabric, to executing the construction and laying out all the details, they’re all lit AF. This is no easy job, even for denim veterans. Thinking about fabric only, they have their proprietary denim, not shared ones. I learnt that in order to have your own fabric, one order should be around 1,000m. It does not include the R&D cost, sampling, etc. And they have to design their own patterns (not one but three), making details, hardwares. The reason I’m saying all these is to express my appreciation toward Corlection team and their hard work. I truly respect what they have brought to the market. Their products are no gimmicks but purely elegant and high-quality to the core. And especially being retailed at $363AUD, it is a real treat from Corlection to all the denim fans.
When I started my denim hobby, it was easy to put on baggy straight fit jeans with 6-inches boots. And as I dived deeper into the game, sometimes I forgot that we are living in a modern world where there is no more gold-rush. What I put on are garments that should be appropriate with my surroundings or in another word — fashionable. But when looking at fashion trend now, most of the garments will not last more than a year. Lack of durability and high-quality materials is a norm nowadays. Then the UG jeans come to the market like a time machine. It carries me travelling over few decades, from the point blue jeans being a true heavy-duty workwear item to it’s peak popularity of being a fashion statement. It connects the past and the present, to create a new future. A classic future!
The review is getting lengthy now, I will close it with what Morpheus said to Neo in Matrix:
This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill — the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill — you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember: all I’m offering is the truth. Nothing more.
I took the red pill. It shows me the truth of possibility and limitation. And you know what? There is no limitation.
PS: Corlection also released their graphic-printed tees, plain tees and bandanas in this season. Check them out, they are all gorgeous!
