Fade Friday – Buaisou Denim (4+ Years, 15 Washes)

It’s difficult to try to put into words what the ultimate grailed pair of jeans might look like for any given denim nerd, but if I were to guess I would say that today’s Fade Friday satisfies every checkpoint on that list and then some. Not often do we get submissions of jeans worn by their makers, but when we do they are always extra special.

Kakuo Kaji is the co-founder of the traditional Japanese indigo dyeing operation BUAISOU and lives in Tokushima, Japan. Not only did he design, cut, and sew these jeans all himself, but he also works on the indigo farms used in BUAISOU’s procedure for natural and authentic dyeing.

In over four years time, these jeans have been put to the test and have survived looking like they were pulled from a museum. All patch repairs were made using canvas dyed in natural “sukumo” indigo vats and the dirty fades tell a story of their own. These jeans were involved in the creation of the very plant that helped create them, and we think that’s pretty amazing.

Although these jeans are not available for purchase, you can keep up to date with BUAISOU through their various Instagram accounts: @buaisou_japan, @buaisou_i, and @buaisou_brooklyn.