Expected Delivery: End of Nov ~End of Dec 2025
This time, TCB had a chance to meet this prison uniform estimated to be from the 1940s.
The moment I saw the large stencil on the back, the first thing that caught my eye was the words "SING SING" along with the prisoner number.
At first, I thought it meant "sing," as in singing a song but upon looking into it, I found out it referred to Sing Sing Prison, a real prison in New York State.
I thought I'd heard that name somewhere before, and it turns out it was the opening scene of "Breakfast at Tiffany's," starring Audrey Hepburn.
At the beginning, she goes, "I've always thought that's a strange name for a prison. Sing Sing. It sounds like an opera house." but on the Japanese subtitles, it's translated as "Sing Sing sounds like a cabaret." This translation, "like a cabaret," made a strange impression on me. It would have been translated so because back in the days the concept of opera house must have not been spread and known in Japan.
When I was talking about this with RYO,
I came up with the joking idea of having "SING SING CABARET," as the stencil on our repro jacket and before I knew it, I was drawn to the word because only TCB with the vintage sewing machines and we are in Japan, we could do the stencil this way.
Cabaret = a place of expression.
On the other hand, prison uniforms are a symbol of restrictions and rules.
I thought this combination of opposing images was very TCB-like.
When I actually got my hands on the vintage prison uniforms and looked at them closely, I found them to be truly fascinating.
In the world of workwear, we are always concerned with cost efficiency for more sales while keeping the functionality & the durability as much as possible but these prison uniforms were originally clothings not intended for sale.
The stitching is just simply applied without the edge of the fabrics overlocked.
They were simply sewn from the inside out with a plain stitch. I struggled to decide how to make them at TCB, but this time I decided to use a plain stitch with fringed seams.
We have retained a realistic roughness that gives you a sense of the atmosphere of the time. The same goes for the design. There are no pockets to hide anything.
We thought that this would be a bit inconvenient outside the prison walls, so TCB added pockets on our take.
The cuffs are also very wide, about 19cm. Perhaps this is also to prevent hiding things.
I considered leaving this part as it is, but I prioritized the silhouette and ease of everyday wear,and adjusted the width.
Another thing that impressed me was the cut pattern.
Although the overall construction is rough, the stripe pattern on the front body is strangely perfectly aligned. I thought, "This is the only detail they've put effort into," and when I looked more closely, I realized that it's actually a one-piece design with the bodice parts connected at the front and back. It was only natural that the stripe pattern would match (laughs).
The result was a jacket with a surprisingly simple construction: one bodice, two sleeves, and one collar.Indeed, it's nothing but a clothing for prisoners to wear, not for sale."
For TCB, who have customers all over the world, this project is more than just a reproduction. Through the subject of prison uniforms, it is an attempt to reinterpret universal themes such as freedom, responsibility, and identity as fashion.
Like denim, uniforms also contain proof that a person has lived.
That's what TCB believes.That's why we want to send this clothing to the world not as a negative symbol, but rather as a positive message symbolizing the strength in the pursuit of freedom.
