A recent brand we’ve added to our family, TCB Jeans, has one of the best website names we can think of. Happy Jeans. Every day we are happy to get to work. TCB’s website embodies that very spirit of joy. Even in looking at their photos, their love of what they do shows. Grins in tandem alongside Union Special chainstitching machines. TCB deeply loves what they do, and they do it very well.
Perhaps that’s why we are so stoked about our TCB Jeans Instagram contest – putting TCB’s ethos in the spotlight. The entire idea of revitalizing a lost era via the making of the finest reproduction clothing Japan has to offer. Already the contest has yielded countless fantastic images, and that’s why we are extending it another week!
TCB is different than other brands. There is a warmth and nostalgia that is evident in the care and tenderness of their craftsmanship:
The innocence and sense of wonder of bygone eras are woven into their fabrics, whether they be denim, chambray, canvas or hickory stripe cotton. Wearers and lovers of TCB seem to know that, too. They seem to feel it when you see them wearing TCB. There seems to be some sort of intimate connection with their pieces – a connection with an era when comic books only had superheroes fighting bad guys and everyone said ma’am and sir. An era when denim was worn with pride and respected for its strength. People who wear TCB understand the true roots of denim and love the brand because it is the closest anyone can ever get to those roots.
The brand isn’t loved worldwide for just quality, classic fabrics and cuts, and reputation, but it’s integrity. Hajime Inoue started working with textiles while he was young — twenty was when he started TCB from the ground-up — and his fascination with the art of denim seems to retain a spirit of fun and wonder with every piece he makes. He has said he spends all day working, sunup to sundown, doing what he loves.
His signature cut, the 50’s jean, is what many other brands love to do, as well: Pay tribute to the original Levi’s 501. With his denim and other pieces like his Ranchman Shirt, he isn’t just paying tribute (specifically to a mid 1940’s Levi’s western shirt), he is uniting culture. The heritage of the original Levi’s pieces, sewn heartily is still there, but he does something we adore. He adds himself to his work. Instead of the original Levi’s logo on the Ranchman shirt’s label, he puts a cat! Instead of horses on his patches, he changes the game:
TCB stands out because of this. They make outstanding repro clothing that isn’t only affordable, true to its heritage, but also, made by a true artist. All of his pieces are the sort you’ve seen in classical Hollywood films, garments coveted and admired by generations. These pieces have even become mythologized over the years. That’s what gives TCB this special quality. Not just a lifestyle brand, TCB is an artifact brand: the spirit of an age. TCB epitomizes why we love this industry. It isn’t just Japanese denim we love, but we love watching people interact with their jeans the way people did half a century ago. Through TCB contest submissions we’ve had the pleasure to see many, many different lives united by one thing:
And for this, we are grateful. Happy Jeans is a fitting name.