100 Year Denim Jacket

Woven with high-strength Japanese selvedge denim, and the same aramid fibres as body armour.

$795.00 $397.00
Size

Model is 6ft 2 / 189cm with a 40 inch / 101cm chest, and wears size Large.

  • 14 oz. Japanese selvedge denim made by Kaihara
  • Material woven with aramid fibres for extreme strength
  • Jacket constructed by Blackhorse Lane Ateliers, London
Our 100 Year Denim Jacket is built to outlive you. It’s constructed with a blend of high-strength 14 oz. Japanese selvedge denim and the same ultra-tough aramid fibres as body armour.

To build a denim jacket this strong we’ve worked with world class partners. The denim starts life on low-speed, high-strength shuttle looms of Japan’s most fabled denim manufacturer, Kaihara, before the jacket is hand constructed by Blackhorse Lane Ateliers in London, where every piece is personally signed by the craftsman who built it.

It comes with heavy-duty metal buttons and metal rivets reinforcing stress points. And during lab testing when we recreated a 45kmph fall and drag on concrete the jacket’s material came out unscathed – which makes this one of the toughest denim jackets ever made.

Technical Details

Material made by Kaihara, Japan: 92% cotton, 8% aramid
Made with 14 oz. Japanese selvedge denim
Jacket is rinsed for softness
Highly abrasion resistant
2 chest pockets
Internal zipped pocket
2 back waist adjusters
3 piece shaped sleeves
Metal buttons with Vollebak detailing
Machine wash 30°C
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The 100 Year Denim Jacket is built to outlive you

Made with a blend of high-strength 14 oz. Japanese selvedge denim and the same ultra-tough aramid fibres as body armour, our 100 Year Denim Jacket is built to outlive you. It comes with heavy-duty metal buttons and metal rivets reinforcing stress points. And when we recreated a 45kmph fall and drag on concrete during lab testing, the jacket’s material came out unscathed. It makes this one of the toughest denim jackets ever made.

The 100 Year Denim Jacket is tough enough to survive 45kmph falls

Engineered with aramid fibres for extreme strength

To create an incredibly strong material we weave aramid fibres directly into the selvedge denim. On a weight for weight basis aramid fibres are 5x stronger than steel, which is why they’re normally used to make body armour and bulletproof vests. 8% of this denim jacket is pure aramid.

It has the stamp of master craftsmanship

Weaving denim on shuttle looms is a much slower process than making denim using high speed modern machinery, which means it’s impossible to mass produce denim like this. And that’s what gives selvedge the stamp of master craftsmanship. You can spot selvedge denim by looking for the distinct white edges when you open up the jacket. And if you’re wondering what the thin yellow line is that runs through the white selvedge strip on the jacket – those are the aramid fibres we’ve used to make the jacket even stronger.

Onk-soushin, the philosophy of old meeting new

Kaihara runs its historical shuttle looms alongside state of the art modern machinery. It’s a philosophy called “onk-soushin” – a way of producing new fabrics by working with old and new techniques at the same time. And it’s this philosophy that allows them to vertically integrate the whole process, from spinning and dyeing the denim, to weaving and finishing it.

Every jacket is rinsed for softness

After being cut and sewn each jacket is lightly rinsed in water to soften it up. Some types of denim are stiff when they’re new and need to be broken in. But we’ve done the breaking in for you. There are lots of modern treatments used to make denim feel lived-in off the shelf, but they weaken the denim by over-accelerating the wearing process. Instead, we’ve used a gentle and energy-efficient process that softens the jacket without affecting its strength.

Ultra-durable, vintage detailing

Every element of the jacket is constructed with skilled craftsmanship that’s designed to last, with ultra-durable, vintage detailing. The jacket fastens down the centre with heavy-duty metal buttons. There’s a double pleated construction running alongside the buttons – a detail taken from early trucker jackets. You’ll find the same metal buttons at each cuff, with metal rivets reinforcing stress points. And there are two traditional waist adjusters at the back of the jacket on either side.

Size + Fit

The 100 Year Denim Jacket has a regular fit. It’s designed to fit like the original denim jackets built for workwear, so it’s slightly shorter in the body. We’d recommend taking your usual size.

Size XS S M L XL XXL
Fits chest 83 - 90 91 - 98 99 - 106 107 - 114 115 - 122 123 - 130
Fits waist 71 - 76 76 - 81 81 - 86 86 - 91 91 - 96 96 - 101
Size XS S M L XL XXL
Fits chest 33 - 36 36 - 39 39 - 42 42 - 45 45 - 48 48 - 51
Fits waist 28 - 30 30 - 32 32 - 34 34 - 36 36 - 38 38 - 40