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Denim brand Evisu have re-launched with Scott Morrison as new Creative Director and CEO. Morrison, a pioneer in the premium denim movement, founded Paper Denim and Earnest Sewn. The new collection will be sold exclusively at Barneys from this month.

The five-pocket jean was originally designed in 1880s. Around 200 years later, in 1991, Evisu launched the “premium denim” movement, which in the late 90s, gave rise to popular brands like Earnest Sewn, PRPS, Earl Jeans and Paper Denim. The latest collection pays homage to the fascinating and forgotten roots of the brand.

A little history of denim and Evisu

In 1980s, vintage denim was sought by collectors around the world. Especially in Japan, vintage denim enthusiasts, or “otakus”, obsessively searched for methods to produce an exact replica of vintage jeans down to the minute details.

In 1988, Evisu’s founder Hidehiko Yamane, a trained tailor, managed to find and buy a 1950s American shuttle loom capable of weaving 40 meters per day and produced exact replicas of vintage jeans. His production of only 12 garments per week, started the “Replica Movement”.

In Japanese Levis is pronounced “Levisu”. Evisu was originally known as Evis jeans, after the Japanese god of prosperity, and later became “Evisu”.

The hand painted Evisu logo has its roots in vintage jeans as well. In 1944 (during World War II), the US Government banned the use of non-essential materials that could be better utilized in war efforts, and as a result this was the only year that Levi’s screen printed the arcuate logo on the back pocket of its jeans. Over years these printed arcuates became distressed, chipped and faded, and this Levi’s 501 from 1944 became the most valuable and collectible jean.

That influenced Hidehiko Yamane to hand-paint the logo on the back pocket of its jeans – which like the most valuable vintage jeans would get chipped and distressed over time. The logo inspired by the American Eagle and the Levis arcuate is synonymous with the Evisu brand today.

Each Pair Tells a Unique Story

Evisu is bringing back the tradition of jeans that tell a story as living testimonial to the wearer’s many life experiences with inspiration coming from different places:

Tateoti book (“the bible of Evisu brand and its histroy) with archive images of Evisu jeans from raw to the worn state tracking the evolving nature of each unique pair.

Inspiration for one piece came from an old pair of Evisu jeans that Scott Morrison found in a flea market. Previously owned by a painter, they had paint stains, key and knife imprints and marks from heavy labour.