Ask Giles and/or Alex Anything
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@Salted-Racer said in Ask Giles and/or Alex Anything:
This is my favorite part :" It's a a tad ironic that they sold their souls to the temple of cheap shit, we picked up the baton and created a real market and associated demand for high quality (but expensive)Japanese denim, but the large US companies are now tangentially squeezing all the Japanese denim brands hard"
It's mine
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when the guy thinks knows how to run a business more successfully than your thriving business that has been around for 20 years... I feel like all you said went on deaf ears.
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I felt so too. But his questioning did make me think and try and articulate the issues we face, so it did me a load of good
"OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011
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I love this insight into the challenges you’re facing and appreciate the transparency. I have no solutions at all at a practical level (and wouldn’t presume to offer any), but is there any hope of the Amekaji tradition getting some sort of intangible cultural heritage designation (or other recognition that would raise its cultural profile), and would this make it more attractive for younger people to enter the industry? This may be a total non-starter and perhaps just highlights my ignorance. It’s certainly not a quick fix but maybe something that IH and other similar brands could work on together.
If this waffling is just me being an idiot, can someone please put me out of my misery?
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Is there any chance of a resurgence in US denim mills to take pressure off Japan? (However, looking at the Cone Denim website seems they have mills in China). The current US Govt is supportive of US made.
Likewise, many Japanese brands have moved a lot of their manufacturing offshore (Malaysia, China, Vietnam, Korea et al) and maintained quality. Do they make any TV's in Japan anymore?
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@Bridger said in Ask Giles and/or Alex Anything:
Is there any chance of a resurgence in US denim mills to take pressure off Japan?
I don't think so. 1) They'd need to sort out all the old shuttle looms and 2) It's the Japanese angle that the consumers are currently buying into. Japan is cool, (and sorry Donnie) US ain't. And that is an extreme cultural shift, the reason the Japanese started doing Amekaji is because US was cool.....
@Bridger said in Ask Giles and/or Alex Anything:
Do they make any TV's in Japan anymore?
Dunno
"OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011
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@Giles
There will be a small resurgence anyhow, as the former White oak looms, then purchased by the now defunct Vidalia Mills, have been acquired by Mount Vernon Mills in Trion, GA. They targeted early 2026 to start production.world tours:
888 Fat guy chocolate WT
Mad Red x2
Wabidashery -
@Giles said in Ask Giles and/or Alex Anything:
Japan is cool, (and sorry Donnie) US ain't
I won't get into this for fear of the mods deleting my post.
However, I wonder if demand for Tellason, Freenote Cloth or Schaeffer's Garment Hotel would go down if they could source quality denim from outside of Japan.
As for Japanese TVs. This is what Gemini tells me.
Do they make TVs in Japan anymore?
The short answer is barely. While Japanese brands like Sony and Panasonic still lead the world in high-end TV design, the era of "Made in Japan" mass-market televisions is effectively over as of 2026.
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@Giles said in Ask Giles and/or Alex Anything:
I felt so too. But his questioning did make me think and try and articulate the issues we face, so it did me a load of good
Your answer was very professional and polite... (did you at least type it with your middle fingers?)
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It’s nearly as bad as the swathes of FB posters complaining that the sizes don’t go large enough for them and don’t match the (massively vanity sized) US clothing sizing.
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Here's what Gemini has to say about the matter.
Japan Selvedge Denim: 10-Year Production Volume Trends
The overall trend has been a decrease in raw yardage but a significant increase in market value, as Japan shifted from "mass-premium" to "ultra-artisan" niche production.
Period Production Volume Trend Key Market Drivers 2016–2019 Peak Stability High global demand for "heritage" wear. Mills like Kaihara were running at near-maximum capacity for brands like Uniqlo and Levi's. 2020–2021 Sharp Decline (-30%) Pandemic lockdowns closed factories in Kojima and Ibara. Supply chain disruptions led to a massive backlog in shuttle loom parts. 2022–2024 The "Quality" Pivot Volume began to recover but stabilized at ~15% lower than 2016 levels. Mills shifted focus to "Small Batch/High Margin" fabrics (Natural Indigo, high-slub). 2025–2026 Niche Growth Currently, volume is steady. Demand from luxury houses (LVMH, Kering) has replaced some of the "mid-tier" volume lost to Chinese mills.
Why Volume Isn't Increasing
You might wonder why Japan doesn't just make more. The "bottleneck" is the Shuttle Loom:
- Speed: A vintage Toyoda G9 shuttle loom is roughly 5x slower than a modern projectile loom.
- Scarcity: There are a finite number of these machines left in the world. Japan owns the largest "fleet," but they require constant, specialized maintenance by aging mechanics.
- Width: Selvedge denim is typically woven at 29-31 inches wide, compared to 60+ inches for modern denim, meaning you need twice the yardage for a single pair of jeans.
Summary
Over the last 10 years, Japan has effectively "de-bulked." They are making slightly less fabric than they were in 2016, but the fabric they are making is more complex, heavier, and significantly more expensive.
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The irony with Vidalia Mills is it seemed like a big competitor for them in the boutique denim space was just all the deadstock made in USA Cone Mill still lingering around rag houses (which really shows to Giles point the vast disrepency in size orders from Levis v the smaller companies)
Vidalia needed some of the big boys to buy their product to make their business sustainable. Now the small brands utilizing made in USA denim will have the last of the cone mill, and last of vidalia mills to pick from before deciding to take a chance on Vernon.What I am getting at, I think, is it would be great if Levis and Lee etc replaced some of their Japanese selvedge inventory with the forthcoming Made in USA stock (they spend a lot on marketing, maybe they can make it cool again). Maybe a pipe dream but this would help to prop up and keep that American industry viable and sustainable and help preserve the smaller Japanese brands like IH by freeing up and returning the Japanese capacity to them.
