The History Of Evisu Jeans

Once upon a time, there was a young Japanese designer named Hidehiko Yamane, with a background as a tailor. Passionate and knowledgeable about denim, he searched all over the world for that rare bird, the perfect pair of jeans. Unfortunately, he was confronted with the bare truth: it doesn’t exist. Worse, he discovered that supposedly vintage jeans were in fact mass produced copies. Quality original denim was proving impossible to find…

As he wearied of this fruitless search, he nevertheless made an important discovery on his travels: an American weaving loom from the 1950s that was capable of producing forty metres of selvedge denim a day (selvedge: a nautical technique to reinforce sails by sewing rope into the edges)…then inspiration hit; he would produce the jeans for himself and other connoisseurs. Thus Evisu was born.

Far from being a random name, Evisu comes from Evis, the Japanese and Buddhist god of prosperity. Often depicted with a fishing rod…two things that the Founder loves! Success was quick after the business is founded in 1991. In the beginning, only 14 pairs of jeans were produced a day, with the seagull-inspired logo painted on by hand. Since, Evisu started exporting jeans in 1994 and is a brand known and loved all over the world for its exceptional quality.