Displaying all articles tagged with &ldquo#Japan”

Lightning Strikes Twice

We are fortunate to be featured in Lightning Magazine for the second time. They came to our shop in Pasadena to attend the Jeans of the Old West release party and took some photos while they were there. The feature came out in their October 2010 issue.

We had the content translated, and this is what they had to say:

We recently attended a publication event for vintage denim in Pasadena, Los Angeles to investigate and research denim trends and fashionable people in the vintage industry.

“Rising Sun & Co.” is a denim brand and shop that exhibits a truly cool vintage vibe. The shop is located in Old Pasadena, north of Los Angeles City. The streets of Old Pasadena are different than other parts of Los Angeles because the old buildings are still standing which were first built during the early settling of Los Angeles so that Old Pasadena seems like it is lost in time. We first encountered and became enamored with Rising Sun & Co. at “Inspiration”, a significant vintage event in Santa Monica. Mike Hodis, the owner of Rising Sun & Co. is well-versed in vintage collecting and styles, so he invited his friend, the author of a new vintage denim book, to hold a publication event for his new book at Rising Sun’s shop in Old Pasadena. Many people from the vintage industry were present at the event, but we were surprised to find there were more people wearing new denim than vintage denim. Standout styles at the event were the people dressed like workers in 30’s. Suspenders were an accessory worn by many at the event confirming the comeback of their popularity. Rising Sun & Co. has manufactured and released new denim styles that are modeled after 40’s or older styles, and have made an impact on many in the vintage industry because of these attractive designs. Rising Sun & Co. currently use Cone denim from the USA for their line. Future production plans include the release of a new denim line using denim from Okayama, Japan. Denim made in Okayama is highly regarded by the attendees of this publication event.

Rising Sun appears like a vintage shop. The sign in the window matches the atmosphere of the shop. Incidentally, parking in the front is for “Hot Rods Only.” There were a number of hot rods on the day of the event.

Click to view a larger version of each photo

Go East Young Man

About a month ago, Mike Hodis just completed his tour of Japan’s most important denim destination: Okayama (AKA denim heaven). This indigo mecca led our good propreitor to the venerable mills Kuroki and Nihon Menpu, makers of legendary fabrics. When people extoll the merits of Japanese denim it is of these mills–and a pinchful of others in the area– they refer to wittingly or not. Many ideas were exchanged, knowledge both taken and given. So fruitful was his trip that we foresee many more visits to come. And many exciting, new things from Rising Sun as well.

These are some pictures from the trip and the Kuroki mill:

Suspension bridge from Okayama to Shikoku island

Shuttle looms at work

Selvedge yarn dyed chino twill

Mike with an operator

Rising Sun in Safari

We have been featured in the Japanese magazine Safari. Check it out. Big thanks to all of the Rising Sun supporters in the land of the rising sun (don’t forget we already covered how our name came to be on our blog here).

For Japan, With Love

We have been swamped with production for stores carrying Rising Sun in Japan where we are now more popular than ever. Here we have pictures showing the fruits of our labor.

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.

Made it to 2nd

The Japanese magazine 2nd has featured Rising Sun. Our kanji is not very good but it seems to be mostly praise and spotlights the Blacksmith jeans, Cattleman jacket, vintage sack pocketing, and our special gift boxes.

2nd Magazine

2nd is published by the same folks who do Lightning magazine.