Friday the doors open on the first Black Bear Brand pop up in Japan. Three days in Tokyo, the vintage engineer pant and coat in person for the first time, and a COMMANDER roughout jacket sold only in the room. Josh Sirlin on why it had to be Tokyo.
Read MoreDenim is decided in the room, with the cloth in your hands. Josh Sirlin on his twice yearly denim meetings in Okayama: the rope dye house, the shuttle looms, and the sewing room.
Read MoreEight years under the same master, and we have never shared a language. Josh Sirlin on going back to Tokyo in October, and on what tattooing taught him about making things.
Read MoreA striped cloth that belonged to this company and to no one else, on a garment that is about a hundred and ten years old. Josh Sirlin on the archive, and on what is coming with TCB.
Read MoreFour days of chain stitching, white cowhide sleeves, melton wool, and eight months of production. Josh Sirlin on the ART Edition varsity jacket, on display in Tokyo on October 2.
Read MoreThe artist Ichirota painted Josh Sirlin with the motorcycles that carried him across the American West. He is bringing the original to Tokyo and giving it to Josh at the Black Bear Brand pop up, where it hangs for all three days. 日本語は英文の下にあります。
Read MoreShuttle looms in Okayama, a family sewing room five generations deep, and an inseam that is long on purpose. Josh Sirlin on the Black Bear Brand jeans.
Read MoreThe quilted down jacket was made in Seattle in 1936, and the oldest one left is still in the city. Josh Sirlin on down, the Himeji leather yoke, and our goose down vest.
Read MoreThe first Black Bear Brand pop-up in Japan opens in Ebisu on the second, third and fourth of October. Josh Sirlin on Tokyo, the collection, and the pieces coming with it.
Read MoreCupro is made from the fuzz left on a cotton seed. Josh Sirlin on the quietest luxury in a coat and why ours is made in Japan.
Read MoreA hundred year old stripe, read off an original coverall and woven again in Okayama. Josh Sirlin on the Black Bear Brand engineer stripe and the vintage engineer pant and coat.
Read MoreA Dutch word, a naval cut, and wool milled until the wind gives up. Josh Sirlin on where the peacoat comes from and how ours is made in Japan.
Read MoreFall arrives, the tweed comes off the hook, and the peacoat returns with a new green. Josh Sirlin on cloth woven by hand in Scotland, coats made in Seattle, and wool woven in Japan.
Read MoreThe wild west was loud, and the cloth that went through all of it was blue. Josh Sirlin on the jean jacket, the Cowboy Jeans, the people he rides with, and the looms in Okayama.
Read MoreMost people put their jeans away in June. I do the opposite. The white core inside a rope dyed yarn, the old looms in Okayama, and what a hot road actually does to a pair of jeans.
Read MoreBeing the least capable person in the room is the fastest education there is. Josh Sirlin on travel, curiosity, and getting humbled on purpose.
Read MoreFlip your cuff. That pale thread is the weft, and it decides more than you think. Josh Sirlin on twill, slub, and the hidden half of denim.
Read MoreOne artist refused to pay a fine and changed the law for everyone. Josh Sirlin on the 2020 Supreme Court ruling and the state of irezumi today.
Read MoreYou cannot buy these colors. Josh Sirlin on creating custom dye colors for Black Bear Brand, the garment wash that follows, and why no two pairs come out the same.
Read MoreJapan banned the tattoo in 1872 to look civilized, and two future kings got tattooed there anyway. Josh Sirlin on the seventy six years underground.
Read More
