Many things in my life have influenced me to get to like jeans but one of them must be the Japanese drama series, Wakamono no subete (All about youngster), broadcasted in 1994. I know it's known only among Japanese but let me talk about it just a little.I would say there must be many of you in my generation who like the TV series the best.
I talked about it many times on our blog since the beginning of the TCB brand and I always repeatedly play the main song every December, which my staff get completely bored of but that's how I've spent my Christmas season every year. And every December, our JP customers asked TCB to make the chino pants which the main actor, Takeshi, wears in the series.
But somehow I couldn't feel like it. Maybe I liked it too much and it's like you keep your favorite food on a dish till the end. TCB released Snow patterned sweatshirts before but that was also the one coming from the same series, which was done completely as my own self-satisfaction.
As a result, they got sold out in a day and I was relieved that many of you had the same liking and this will be the last time for me to do another collection of what I used to aspire to get but couldn't afford when I was a kid.
Let me also speak about its main song. When I was 14, I was so thrilled at the song of Japanese band, Mr. Children, that has quite a few songs with the same title as the songs of the Beatles. The JP band got heavily influenced by the Beatles and I really enjoyed listening to them and finding some phrases, guitar riffs, drum beats in their songs inspired from the Beatles. The 90's was a huge part of my youth and at that time I thought the US cultures and the UK cultures were what influenced me a lot in many ways including fashion and jeans but maybe that's partly wrong. Now some decades have passed and I came to think that I might have admired the Japanese adults of those days who had been heavily influenced by the overseas cultures. They looked so fresh and cool to me.
My old friends always tell me " Hey Hajime, you haven't changed at all since junior high except for your body size and beard. And you still love jeans and that's your work now"
I understand Mr.Children sounds a bit funny in English but I might look like an adult with a child's heart in my friends' eyes. When you were a kid, you all surely had some dreams and hopes but time and reality might have faded them out of your life. There might be a day or two in a year when you gaze out the window thinking about nothing, see a random kid on the street with your eyes following what they do, you might unconsciously cast those dreams and hopes on him or her knowing it's completely nonsense and meaningless. I'm not being arrogant or anything but luckily I can now make things that 14 year old Hajime boy longed for back then. Hope our new release will make you guys with a child heart as excited as me!
I liked the word, the collection of my past admiration and used it a lot for TCB new products in the last few years but I think I've done them all. Shohei Otani said to the team before the WBC match against the USA, "Stop admiring them" and it's the last one for me, vintage 41 khaki!
Sewing
The iconic piping pockets are sewn a bit looser at the opening than regular trousers and it gives off vintage vibes, made based on how it's sewn on the vintage 41 Khaki Chino.
The upper and bottom chain stitches on the waist belt are sewn together but there is an interesting point different from normal work wear pants.
Looking closely at the bottom stitch, there's 5mm allowance downwards, which usually is only 1mm on any jeans or work pants but I think this is the waistband interlining which is often used for suit trousers.
When you tuck your shirt in, this little excess of the waist belt gives more friction so that the shirt won't crawl up. No wonder why the pants are called officer chino!
Fabric
Made based on the vintage pair of 41 Khaki chino we own. 10OZ fabric.
For the warps, two ply yarn threads made of yarn count 38 threads and for the wefts, two ply yarn threads made of yarn count 20 threads, made of the blended American cotton.
Usually, the majority of chino sold nowadays are made of the fabric of the yarn count 20 but ours are a bit heavier but it's really soft and the texture is so smooth that you won't feel uncomfortable at all.
Label
Some vintage chinos have the Western Costume tag which were made for the costume for movies. TCB's attached Eastern Costume tag since we are from the far east!
