Good evening to you and yours!

Lovely but busy day behind us. But I guess I’m seldom that busy that I would neglect my beloved blog. Writing is a form of therapy you know. Today’s a good day to continue on the topic of Momotaro Jeans – Made in Japan. The Part 2 is about the next stage of production, the looms. Once the yarn is spun and dyed it’s time to weave the denim.

There are number of ways one can do this. Using hand loom, power loom or vintage shuttle loom but Momotaro Jeans are only produced using vintage shuttle looms.

This picture is like straight from the movie Machinist.

The below picture shows a line-up of machine looms in action producing denim Rampuya & Co and Momotaro Jeans are known for. All of Momotaro Jeans’ denim is produced in Vintage Denim mills in Kojima.

Remember folks, it is the vintage denim mills that bring out the best in the denim. One can not imitate the details produced with vintage shuttle looms. It’s not just the ingredients, but you need the right tools/equipment to do the job.

A little history lesson here. This is actually a direct quotation from what I wrote about a year ago, shuttle looms were originally invented in England in 1785 and later developed in Japan by Sakichi Toyoda in 1890s’. Shuttle looming is time consuming but produces a tight weave and thus heavier long lasting fabric. Today the traditional production method has nearly disappeared due to demand for lower cost mass production of denim following the popularization of modern looms designed for mass production.

One requires a right loom to retain the original character of the denim.

The vintage machines need staff who know what they are doing, keeping those machines running.

The below picture shows the shuttle carrying the filling yarn.

The denim production is a meticulous process that requires that much boasted artisan spirit. For many the idea of denim production involves just cutting and sewing, but much of the work happens in those denim mills where the jeans you love get their fabric from.

Momotaro is well known for their Gold Label jeans that involve a long and meticulous production process all done by hand. This includes the weaving of the denim. Where as majority of the Original Momotaro Jeans Denim is produced using Vintage Machine Looms, the gold label jeans are produced with the hand loom operated by a single person producing the fabric inch by inch. Where as it has taken months just to select the cotton, spin the yarn, make the dye and dye the yarn, the denim is then woven all by hand. Only a meter is produced per day. This is why the production of these jeans takes up to 1 year.

Needless to say, these jeans are a work of art. The natural blue of the Gold Label is extremely long lasting and the color changes in time getting an awesome look. Every pair produced is different from one another and the details are so significant that even the storing environment, atmosphere and temperature affect the final look of the jeans. I am dying to put a pair of these babies through some real wear and tear. That said, should I make my order now I could start the project just when I’m about to finish my current one. Let’s see.

That’s all for now. Part 3 is still coming. But you will just have to wait few more days for that. I’m out now so catch all y’all later. Stay safe, peace.