These jeans just arrived in the mail from Japan, since I scored them from Ebay. the seller was telling the truth about only having worn them twice – they feel brand new! The 45 rpm Indigo’s have the heaviest denim I’ve worn before, but it’s a wonderfully soft and organic feeling material. As a result of their one wash, they are nice soft versus the stiff feeling of unwashed raw denim. Considering that these are now my most expensive pair of jeans, it’s kinda quaint to think that denim was ever considered the fabric of the American working man.

Especially given 45 rpm’s artisanal, indigo-dyed denim that draws on Japan’s own textile tradition. Cotton threads are hand-dipped 28 times in real indigo, then woven on shuttle looms purposely slowed so that they produce a more random textured twill reflecting human imperfections. From there, the denim is sewn into the Indigo line, which means it has one wash (hand-done, of course) and retails for a mere $450.

But that’s only the beginning, since 45 rpm also sells custom washes in one-year, two-year, five-year and seven-year versions (also all hand-done) between $750 and $1,500 a pair. Get ’em here.

More pics after the jump…