At the Inspiration LA show we met a Japanese gentleman named Katsu. He picked up a pair of Rising Sun Blacksmith jeans and loved it so much that he custom ordered the companion jacket, the Engineer. Now that he is back in Japan he sends us his regards and this picture showing off his Rising Sun clothing. He tell us he will wear this outfit 3 times a week, which honors us consider he works for Howa, one of the premiere laundries in Japan, and knows a thing or two about denim.

Thank you for the support!

The details-focused Blacksmith jean took up the lion’s share of our time. Working with antique sewing machines require care, finesse, and lots of patience. The results make the extra energy we spend very much worthwhile.

The Worker jean continues to be a big hit. Here we have the patches drying after the Made in USA shield stamp was applied.

I am not talking about the workwear brand. Not the clock tower bell either, although Ben Phillips is from the UK. He made a special trip to see us and we thought our meeting deserves recounting.

On the lazy Pasadena morning after Christmas, while workers of Rising Sun and other local institutions were at home hungover from celebrating, our propreitor Mike Hodis found himself compelled to open the store. In his own words not ten minutes after the doors were open “I quickly realized why I had to open that day and that if I had not I would have missed an opportunity to meet one of the most motivated and passionate denim enthusiast out there.” He is talking about Ben, the hulking Brit who deals in American tattoo machines and loves faithfully made denim clothing.

Ben was stateside with his girlfriend who is in a student exchange program in Philadelphia. They made the trip to the west coast to see the sights but “the catalyst for the trip was to come and check out our shop and to purchase a pair of Blacksmiths, in size 40.”

Chatting and swapping stories ensued. Ben’s size served him well in barroom brawls and hard living in the tough, industrial English town he grew up in. His passion for vintage clothing and 40′s era culture gave him a creative outlet to overcome what must have been a rough upbringing. We are proud to count Ben as a supporter and have him wear Rising Sun garments.

This encounter gave much Mike much to think about during this season of thanks and reflection. “The time I spent in the shop with this great guy made me realize that the shop serves more than one purpose. It also serves as a destination for like-minded people whose lives intertwine with mine. The stories as well as the new friendships I cherish as priceless moments in my life.” Thank you, Ben! It was a pleasure meeting you and Ooffii.

What follows is a small autobio by Big Ben himself.

Ooffii and I come from Brighton, England, about an hour south of London. My experiences in the music industry as a tour manager and promoter, and my time working for The Duffer of St. George has generated my interest in tattoos, vintage and especially denim. I now work for Deluxe Tattoo Supplies; I travel throughout the UK selling handmade tattoo machines.

Ooffii is a student at the University of Sussex studying American History. She is currently on exchange at the University of Pennsylvania; for her Christmas break we decided to head out west to get some California sun. My denim obsession forced us to brave LA public transport to make the trip to Rising Sun. We had the best experience in the shop. We hung out with Mike and chatted about everything from denim and vintage to frontier history, mining and our families. It was a pleasure and a privilege to spend time in the shop and get to see the amazing workshop. I couldn’t be happier with my new Blacksmiths and am looking forward to building a up a Rising Sun collection.

It has been a good three months since Brit Eaton, famous vintage hunter, began wearing a pair of Rising Sun Blacksmith jeans. This jean is made of a dark indigo selvage denim milled on vintage shuttle looms in the USA. We caught up with our good friend last week at the Rose Bowl Flea Market where he maintains a tent to show off his treasured finds.

He also showed off the Blacksmith jeans, which he wore on his adventures through old mines and abandoned towns searching for vintage valuables.

The Rising Sun Yukon jeans is often regarded as the most period-correct jeans we offer, whereas the Blacksimth jeans exemplifies the beauty of the single needle

Pick your poison.

Back in the days young’uns would cut off the cinch backs and use a belt in contrast to old-timers who would go suspenders and cinch back style. Since we don’t know any old school folks still wearing these kinds of jeans to rebel against mutilating these jeans will not be necessary.

The cinch back is positioned on the yoke and does not get in the way of a belt.

Lined cinch back

All this on top of all the other features on an excellent pair of jeans made of American-loomed selvage denim. Contact the haberdashery to get a pair.

Rivet on fly, aka crotch rivet.

Rivet on front pocket opening.

The resulting effect is a type of American folk art aesthetic that when viewed through the lenses of say, “wabi sabi,” of finding beauty in imperfection, can be profoundly beautiful. This coupled with the special way our selvage denim and threads fade makes the Blacksmith a one of a kind homage to the living and ever-changing article of clothing that is a pair of jeans.

Two days a week a gentleman by the name of Levi (real name) works in our haberdashery. The other days he rides and sells motorcycles (Harleys) while breaking in a pair of Rising Sun Blacksmith jeans. Wear marks are beginning to form. In due time his jeans will have a beautiful fade pattern with gorgeous traintracks and all. His inside leg seam already has a mark from the hot motor.

Come in the shop and shoot the bull with Levi. He enjoys talking about vintage, denim, and motorcycles.

Pockets starting to fade

Burn mark from hot motorcycle

The continuous fly piece is one of our favorite details on the Rising Sun Blacksmith jeans. It harkens back to a time when jeans were made tough to withstand hard living. While you may not necessarily apply a miner’s stress and tools to your jeans (although Brit Eaton may) we sleep a little better knowing our patrons are getting jeans of higher standards.

On the outside the button fly does not appear to be of unusual nature.

Careful inspection reveals that the left and right fly are actually constructed of one continuous piece.