Tanuki

The mysterious super team behind the Tanuki denim brand uses decades of cumulative expertise to give historical depth and modern breath to denim. In their words: 

“Our names don’t matter. What matters is that we have brought back traditions and partnered with the world. What matters is that we brought back fabrics no one had seen in over three decades. What matters is that we are taking the past and looking forward. What matters is that we are here to maintain an art alive. Tanuki will transform with you, will grow with you, will be a part of you.”

The only place to focus is on the result, and not just folded in the closet still new, but as it is carried through life. 

Translating loomstate fabrics into a pair of jeans that fit perfectly is difficult to say the least. Years of minor adjustments and innovations are required for each fit and size until balance is realized. Working with western designers to modernize traditional Kahida (Japanese denim) to craft modern cuts not found in the Japanese canon, Tanuki designs for the long wear of different body types, balancing slubbier slow loom chatter and mid-speed strength and then finishing expertly with multiple complementary thread colors in different weights and stitch types, as well as rivet and button placement, to create a fit and strength of durability and style excellence. Each style and every size is worked out to fit the character of the design. Add to that their refined rope dyeing process - a grey indigo that sits on top of a slight green cast - produces hues of fade worthy depth.

Never boring or exaggerated, Tanuki expertly delivers denim of streamlined subtlety, details and construction interactions that are deceptively complex. They are producing jeans with premium construction on a level that doesn’t exist in the Japanese denim industry today, and that’s saying a lot. This is denim for denimheads.

The two lines on the veg-tanned leather patches represent Tanuki’s two elements: The past/tradition and the future/innovation.

Read more about Tanuki in our Back-Story, Denim For Denimheads