今回、Late S40’sとVintageの大戦モデルを並べてみて、素直に嬉しくなりました。
色落ちの表情が、驚くほどよく似ていたからです。
最初にお伝えしておくと、今回比較しているVintageは、Late S40’sを製作するときにサンプリングした個体ではありません。
そのため、縫製仕様やディテールは異なります。
それでも、二本を並べて生地の表情を見たとき、Late S40’sで目指したものが、きちんとVintageと同じ方向へ育っているように感じました。
ここで、あえて「色」ではなく、「色の落ち方」と書いているのには理由があります。
ジーンズの色は、穿く人の生活や穿く頻度、洗濯の回数によって絶対に変わるものです。
同じジーンズを穿いても、まったく同じ色にはなりません。
だから見てほしいのは、色の濃さではなく、その奥にある生地の表情です。
言葉にするなら「縦落ち」なのかもしれません。
ただ、強い線が何本も走るような、いわゆる派手な縦落ちとは少し違います。
青が面としてゆっくり薄くなり、その中に細く不規則な筋が浮かぶ。
白い粒のような色落ちと、細かな筋が混ざり合い、濃い部分と淡い部分が自然に残っていく。
写真では、ぜひその筋の出方に注目してみてください。
長い年月を経たVintageと、実際に穿き込まれたLate S40’s。
別々の時間を過ごしてきた二本なのに、ここまで近い表情を見せてくれました。
これから穿き始める人にとって、このVintageとの比較が、Late S40’sの少し先の姿を想像できる一枚になれば嬉しいです。
When I placed the Late S40’s next to a Vintage WWII-era pair, I was genuinely pleased.
The character of the fading was remarkably similar.
First, I should mention that the Vintage pair shown here is not the pair we used as a reference when developing the Late S40’s.
Therefore, the sewing specifications and construction details are different.
Even so, when I placed the two pairs side by side and studied the surface of the denim, I felt that the Late S40’s had aged in exactly the direction we had hoped—toward the same kind of character found in the Vintage denim.
There is a reason I describe this not simply as the “color,” but as “the way the color fades.”
The color of a pair of jeans will inevitably change depending on the wearer’s lifestyle, how often they wear them, and how frequently they wash them.
Even the same pair of jeans will never fade in exactly the same way on two different people.
So rather than comparing the depth of the color, I would like you to look at the character of the denim itself.
You might describe it as “vertical fading.”
However, it is slightly different from the dramatic type of vertical fading where strong, clearly defined lines run through the fabric.
Instead, the blue gradually fades across the surface, while fine, irregular streaks begin to emerge.
Tiny specks of white blend with those subtle streaks, naturally leaving areas of both darker and lighter indigo.
When looking at the photographs, please pay particular attention to the way those fine streaks appear.
One pair is a Vintage garment that has survived many decades.
The other is a Late S40’s that has been worn and aged in the present day.
Although they have lived through completely different periods of time, they have developed remarkably similar expressions.
For anyone about to begin wearing a new pair, I hope this comparison with the Vintage denim offers a glimpse of what their Late S40’s may become in the years ahead.