Fade Friday – Eternal 811 (1 Year, 8 Washes)

The online denim community (at least in North-America) often uses the term “Holy Grail” to refer to pairs of jeans it perceives as having character or fades above and beyond the realm of an average pair. Achieving the label of “Grail” is not a feat to be taken lightly; many denim-heads take very particular care of their raw denim in order to attain a pair of “Grail jeans”, and even then it is hard to gain common acceptance of your jeans as being outstanding.

That having been said, for this week’s Fade Friday, I’d like to share one of my personal favorite pairs, which made a big splash in the denim scene a good number of years ago. (An archived thread of interest surrounding this pair, which also includes accurate translations of the owner’s transcripts, is viewable here.)

Back in 2004, the operator of Japanese denim-enthusiast website Denim-Gallery started reporting the progress of his pair of Eternal 811 jeans. Throughout the following year, he made a total of 6 reports, each fully documented with photos and textual descriptions. Over the course of 12 months and 8 washes, he shared with us the stunning transformation from plain and uniform indigo to a pair of jeans that have tremendous character and displayed the capabilities of Eternal’s famous Kurashiki denim.

Note: We apologize for the small photos as they were taken with a point-and-shoot camera in 2004. Please bear in mind as well that the Eternal jeans featured here vary somewhat from current lots.  They retain the original red tab on the inside of the back pocket, which is no longer present on current Eternal jeans due to the infamous Levi’s lawsuit.

Details

  • Name: Eternal 811
  • Weight: 14.5 Oz
  • Denim: 100% Japanese Cotton, Kurashiki Selvedge Denim
  • Fit: Regular Straight
  • Length of Wear: 1 Year
  • Number of Washes: 8
Photos – BEFORE (Source: Blue in Green & Denim-Gallery)

Eternal 811 Raw Denim Jeans

Denim-Gallery 811's Before (Front)

Eternal 811 Raw Denim Jeans

Photos – AFTER

Eternal 811 Raw Denim Jeans

Eternal 811 Raw Denim Jeans

Eternal 811 Raw Denim Jeans

Vertical Falling – Intense!

Eternal 811 Train-Tracks

Eternal 811 Train-Tracks

Eternal 811 Damaged Rear Pocket

Damaged right-hand rear pocket from wallet

Honeycombs

Mmm honeycombs…

Closeup of the 811's whiskers

Closeup of the 811’s whiskers

Atari from the lighter kept in the coin pocket

Atari from the lighter kept in the coin pocket

Additional Resources:

  • Denim Gallery Homepage (Japanese Only)
  • Denim Gallery 811 Report (Japanese Only – use the links under the red “811” bar at bottom to navigate between report posts)

Stay Raw!

-Sean
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