Big John Japanese Denim & Clothing

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Big John is the Okayama brand that made Japan's first jeans, and Yards Store carries a focused selection across the range: selvedge denim jeans in three weights, a selvedge denim jacket, selvedge chambray and western

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9 Produkte

Our selection runs across the range. On denim, the M102SL is a 12oz selvedge jean woven on a vintage Toyoda GL-3 shuttle loom, cut with a slight taper and made to be cuffed so the selvedge edge shows; the M1801 is a heavier 17oz in rope-dyed indigo, slim through the thigh and tapered below the knee; and the M103J offers a third selvedge option alongside them. The M6010SLB denim jacket uses the same 12oz selvedge fabric.

Beyond the denim, the shirts carry the same construction: a 10oz selvedge western shirt and 5oz selvedge chambray long sleeves in indigo and a Wabash stripe. The heavyweight T-shirts round the range out, including a tubular-knit short sleeve and an ultra-heavyweight cotton version. You can read more about the brand's history in our guide to Big John.

Big John FAQs

Big John is the Japanese brand that produced the country's first domestically made jeans in 1965, and in 1973 the first jeans made entirely from Japanese materials. Based in Kojima, Okayama, it is widely regarded as the origin point of the Japanese denim industry.
In Kojima, in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. The area was already known for cotton, indigo and textile production before it turned to jeans in the 1960s, and it is now recognised as the home of Japanese selvedge denim.
Selvedge denim is woven on narrow shuttle looms that finish the fabric edge cleanly, rather than the wider projectile looms used for most modern denim. The result is a denser, more characterful fabric that fades distinctively with wear. The finished edge is visible when jeans are cuffed.
The 12oz M102SL is the easier option to live with day to day, softening relatively quickly and comfortable year round. The 17oz M1801 is a heavier fabric that takes longer to break in but develops sharper fades and holds its shape. Both are raw, so expect a period of wearing them in.
Yes, the selvedge jeans and jacket are raw, meaning the denim is unwashed and untreated. Expect the fabric to soften and shape to you over the first few weeks, and the indigo to fade along the lines of how you wear it. Most people leave raw denim unwashed for a period before its first wash.
Yes. Alongside the denim, our selection includes selvedge chambray and western shirts and heavyweight T-shirts. The shirts are cut in the same workwear tradition the company started with in the 1940s, when it made uniforms and workwear before turning to jeans.
Yes. Yards Store is an official UK stockist of Big John, available online and in our Manchester and Sheffield shops. The brand has relatively few Western stockists, so availability outside Japan is limited.