Warehouse & Co. X Clutch Cafe Lot 1101 Ecru Denim Jean

For our latest collaboration jean with famed Osaka Five denim manufacturers Warehouse & Co, we opted for their exclusive 12 oz natural/ecru cotton.

This super fine 12oz selvedge denim is woven by a vintage Toyoda G3 Shuttle Loom in Okayama. These particular looms are used for their unique texture and for the vintage appeal these looms create. The denim is unique with plenty of characteristics running throughout. The fabric has remained unbleached and features a slightly neppy/slubby touch to the jean while you can still see slight remnants of the cotton seeds running through the cotton.

The Toyoda G3 Shuttle Loom was the first loom created in Japan for producing selvedge fabrics. The G3's short lived career came after the push for modern looms in the 1940's, so that by the time the G3 was introduced, denim production and manufacturing had already begun the shift towards modern weaving. During these later years of the 1950's, the golden age of American denim, shuttle looms were well & truly on their way out. 

The age of the G3 looms is of course staggering, as is the persistence of highly skilled technicians and denim manufacturers to continue using this machine to produce the highest quality selvedge denim in Japan. Today there is only one mill left in Okayama operating a G3 Loom. 

G3 Loom developed by Toyoda Industries Corporation over half a century ago, with only one remaining in Okayama, Japan.

Inspired by vintage denim from a bygone era, Warehouse & Co strive for perfection with each model they produce. Choice of fabric, fit, details, thread count & patch choice are all things carefully considered. A small sign of their continuous strive for re-creating the perfect vintage denim is having their stitch count in inches as opposed to millimetres, as the US would have used this unit of measure in denim production. 

For our second exclusive model with Warehouse & Co we have opted for their 1101 silhouette. Somewhat reminiscent of 60's style denim in shape, the 1101 Ecru comes pre-washed as standard and staying true to original Levi's production they feature right hand twill construction. 

This silhouette has proved popular for us over the past couple of years, especially with the Lot. 1101 2nd Hand Series model that some will no doubt be familiar with. As standard across this series, the leg length can prove to be a little short for some. This is something that has proven extremely popular within their domestic market in Japan in line with a slight move towards a sort of more 'Ivy' style look as well as working rather heavily with Beams + to create a number of models exclusive to their Japan market. 

We have opted for a slightly longer leg here with this model, though. Each size breakdown will feature a 32" inseam that should allow for the jean to be worn straight down or with a couple of turn-ups. Along with this, for those who wish to wear them a little shorter we offer a complimentary chain stitching service on all denim purchased from us. For this model we will have the exact threads used by Warehouse & Co. in their sewing factory in Tokushima. These are pre-washed so there is no need to worry about any shrinkage in the length so can be hemmed to any desired length if needs be.