Know your jean-eology

Concocted for rough work in the mines during the California Gold Rush a century ago, and long an essential part of the wardrobe for cowboys and labourers, blue jeans are enjoying a soft-life renaissance in Bangkok. Several designers are drawing a young crowd of shoppers with slick denim looks accented with clever handcrafting. 

 

BLUE BROTHERS

Blue Brothers, a sister brand of popular 40-year-old MC Jeans, are perfectly tailored indigo denims. The unwashed jeans with a woven red line are a particular hit.

Four tailors who’ve worked for MC for decades produce all the jeans on vintage sewing machines, guided by a Japanese specialist in patterns.

“We pay more attention to every process,” says the assistant vice president Ekkaphap Chiramani. “We use high-quality denim from Japan, where it used to be very popular but is hard to find these days. Many denim mills in Japan still use the old weaving techniques, though.” 

As for the name Blue Brothers, he says the “blue” refers to the material’s colour and “brothers” suggests that your jeans can be your best friend. “And the scratches in the material symbolise our long experience!”

There are 10 designs to choose from, ranging from slim-and-straight to skinny-and-slim. Most pairs are made of unwashed denim, but the skinny ones contain 2 per cent spandex for extra lightness and comfort. 

The prices run from Bt2,500 to Bt3,995, but you’ll also want a Blue Brothers Chambray shirt with old-fashioned cat’s-eye buttons.

 

ARTIST DENIM

If you shop for jeans online, you’ll come across Artist Denim run by 28-year-old Kitipat Soontornampol, who lets you customise with a choice of material, design and any extras you might like to put on the back pocket. 

What began as Kitipat’s hobby, offering imported luxurious items from Dior Homme, Mont Blanc and Nudie, turned into a bustling business in 2010, after he’d spent a year learning tailoring.

“I’ve been collecting jeans since I was a kid, and the online shop taught me where to get the best material, what the trends were and how to design jeans to fit different figures. I ensure good quality, good cut, good design and reasonable prices, and it helps that Thais support their local brands.”

In a concept harking back to the 1960s, the jeans have two-coloured thread, brass buttons and an embroidered pocket. Kitipat has almost 90 different styles imported from Japan in red, yellow, blue and rainbow. They cost Bt3,900 to Bt9,000, depending on the material and design. “I use four mills in Japan. Nihon Menpu is keen on hand-dyeing, Kaihara produces neat denim, Kuroki has soft and thick denim and Nishinnbo guarantees good quality.”

His original line, Sugar Cane Number 1, still sells well, thanks at least in part to the aromatic scent of the cane. “All these jeans are produced on old sewing machines that can create different effects and stitches. That’s what makes them unique as well as durable. Our customers are mostly in America and Europe and they appreciate handcrafting. I might spend one or two months just on the stitching.”

Kitipat now has a second line, Waft X Weft, targeted at youngsters, and a series of black and white screened T-shirts. 

 

TOMATO DENIM

Thirachet Reungvivatphan and his friends have always been big fans of jeans, but they wanted “smarter” jeans – more flexible and comfortable. That first led to the A La Mode brand of various apparel for “older workers”, utilising denim and spandex.

“Then we opened Tomato Denim in Chatuchak Market, offering dyed jeans made from 13 kinds of denim mixed with spandex,” Thirachet says. “They’re woven with special techniques and dyed in pieces to create different textures. The details on the pockets play with the genuine leather.”

He has a hundred designs – slim, narrow straight, skinny and straight – from size 28 to 34, plus leather boots and boat shoes. “Now we’re getting more young customers, who love unique things, and we also export to Vietnam, Cambodia and Japan.”

 

BLACK SHEEP

Preeyapat Mekrungroj and his sister, whose family owns a denim mill, launched the Black Sheep Jeans label in 2011, offering shirts, T-shirts and accessories as well as jeans.

The denim is again imported from Japan, and here the designs emphasise simplicity, unusual colours and impressive dyeing techniques. Black Sheep jeans come in slim, slim fit, straight and high weight and range in price from Bt1,000 to Bt4,000. 

 

PUMP-NUM-MUN

Young shoppers in Siam Square gravitate to Pump-Num-Mun Jeans, known in English as Gasoline & Garage – more than 30 designs for both women and men. 

Designer Thanarad Mayteedol goes for good cutting, beautiful patterns and eye-catching looks while retaining the classic ’60s appeal of blue jeans. He uses cotton denim, indigo blue and super spandex from Italy, Japan and South Korea and adds playful trim to the pockets and gold thread in the Japanese style.

The latest series includes Super Black skinny jeans of cotton and polyester and Back Belt, whose denim comes from Japan’s Kaihara Mill. Choose from indigo, pink, brown, purple, rose, grey or black and all sorts of styles.

 

PIGER WORKS

Engineers Opaspong Tongnuch and Kongchuch Wongrukmit have the brand Piger Works, where the concept is “modern vintage style”. There are seven collections for men and women and the varied weaving and cutting techniques make them look classic but trendy. 

The denim from Japan is accented with silver and brass buttons and blue saddle stitching on the inner seam and back pockets. The inner pockets are blue for boys and pink for girls and made from two-tone Sherwood woven fabric. You’ll spent Bt5,950 to Bt7,950 on boot cut, super slim, roomy straight, slim straight, semi boot cut and regular straight.

“The jeans look as though they’re handcrafted,” Opaspong says. “Our tailors are skilled and our jeans are produced on old machines. We use four types of denim and sticky thread that’s a combination of cotton and polyester.”

  

 

SHOPPING LIST

<< Blue Brothers – Until August 14 on the first floor of Siam Center, daily from 10 to 10

<< Black Sheep Jeans – www.Facebook.com/Backsheep.Jeans

<< Tomato Denim – Terminal 21, Chatuchak Weekend Market, www.Facebook.com/Tomatoware, (086) 655 5565

<< Gasoline & Garage – Siam Square Soi 2, first floor of Siamkit Building, (081) 456 4272, www.Facebook.com/Pump-Num-Mun-Gasoline-Siamsquare Jeans

<< Piger Works – 17/4, Tohfan Village, Soi Piboonsongkram 22, Nonthaburi, open daily except Sunday from 9 to 6, (087) 551 5555, www.Pigerworks.com www.Facebook.com/Pigerworks

<< Artist Denim – (086) 361 1005 www.Facebook.com/Artistdenim