Reddit - Ask me Anything (AMA)

[Seul]

Your praise and kind words for Haraki-san (and vice versa) is touching  Made for a great read, G!..

[davito]

Well done G great insights like always. Thanks

[Giles]

@jdl1279:

Wow, that's gotta make folks buying from Japan sting all the more (sorry knowing as I do now I would have dug deeper, promise you'll get the balance in the long run). Do you know with all of that where you end up per pair? Sorry I can be off, profit margins and debt footprints interest me.

We work on the basis that we do not need to make the same margin off everything we sell.  Margins on silver, leather and the 25oz are awful.  If that was all we sold, we'd go bust.  But we strive for an average margin that is acceptable, so yes, we make more on some items (the IH-634S being a prime example - we make so many of them our costs are reasonably low)…...

[jdl1279]

I am glad there is some room for you after the trials of production. I understand no two things in any business carry the same margins, I have also been in the position where trouble jobs make your end barely worth the effort. The determination to get through the issues, even with a smaller margin, and then continue to expand the offerings in the difficult area is what impresses me. You have to bust your ass to make that work, tons of respect for it.

[sabergirl]

This was so fascinating to read!  Thanks for taking the time, Giles.  I'm interested to know what happens to the scrap denim that can't be salvaged for pockets or other products.

[Giles]

We find projects eventually for them….

[sabergirl]

Lovely!  It would seem a shame to waste such top quality materials.  I'd love to see what little things y'all have come up with.

[mclaincausey]

Coasters!

[sabergirl]

Have there been 25oz. coasters, though?!

[mclaincausey]

Paraffin something would be great

[seanocono]

Just finished reading through the AMA.  Congratulations, Giles.  You knocked that out of the park.  If I weren't a huge fan of IH already, I would be after reading your thoughtful, direct, and informed responses.

[Giles]

Where is the blushing emoticon when you need one?

[veloaudio]

Well put Sean.  I was trying to think of a good way to sum up my reaction after reading the AMA but you captured my thoughts perfectly. Congrats G and IH on the great exposure.

[irishexpat]

@mclaincausey:

Coasters!

i want some too now.

[jdl1279]

^third, since I saw Seul's my beers seem lonely.

[4c]

Very cool read…  .
I always assumed IH used Supima for the US long staple cotton in the jeans. But then I read this: “OK I heard from Haraki. Fairly adamant reply:
"We don't use PIMA in our denim and I won't use it."”

I have this burning question about the cotton now. I should start by saying that I’m somewhat obsessed with cotton and am really impressed with the cotton used in my IH jeans and sweatshirt and my cotton obsessions are urging me to find out what variety of cotton IH uses. However, there are a few points about IH cotton that make it wonderfully unique and hard to identify:

• It’s not the GE (BT toxin producing or herbicide tolerant) variety…
                (which rules out about 90%+ of  US cotton…)
• It’s not US Pima AKA Supima (which rules out about 3%)

So that leaves about 6-7% which it could be, but it’s long staple cotton (which is rare outside of Supima cotton in the US and rules out all Upland cotton and most of the other 6-7% left over) so it must be some super rare cotton variety that’s not even on the radar of commercial cotton growers…

Which all leads to the question: What kind is it? Is it a secret? Is it some rare heirloom or breed of cotton that other companies don’t find cost effective, but IH uses for its extreme durability/softness? A US Zimbabwean cotton equivalent that’s better than Supima?
Vary fascinated to hear… certainly no rush though.

[Giles]

Haraki & and Ono-san sit down and work out what Haraki needs out of the finished fabric.  There are certain things Haraki just does care about (though Pima is obviously something he is not keen on).  Does X do the job?  Yes.  Good.

I can also tell when he feels a question is unnecessary and he is irritated.  This is one of them.

[Friday]

Congrats on the AMA G-San. Learned a lot.

[madmonday]

so G$, who ghost wrote those responses on the AMA?  you came off to me very knowledgable, funny, passionate & straight forward . . . . so I know Winchy or Paula had to be taking care of it while you were fishing or getting a pedicure

great job & way to be proactive in reaching a wider audience through the world wide webs

[Giles]

  So this is how it went.  I was in the office for most of the time.  I fired off the responses.  Paula was at home, logged in as me, and she would edit my appalling spelling, grammar, punctuation and typos…...