Evisu
 | |
| Company type | Limited |
|---|---|
| Industry | Apparel |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Founder | Hidehiko Yamane |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Apparel Accessories Underqarment |
| Website | www.evisu.com |
EVISU is the original denim brand to introduce premium quality Japanese selvedge denim & custom distressing. It was founded in Osaka Japan in 1991 and is named after the Japanese God of prosperity Ebisu.
Initially only around 14 pairs of jeans a day were created, each one caringly hand-painted with the now famous seagull logo. EVISU captured the imagination of the detail-obsessed Japanese fashion crowd and spurred a revival of interest in vintage denim which spread around the world. Today EVISU has gained critical acclaim, as one of the ultimate denim must haves, is internationally known and embraced by both collectors and hipsters alike.
EVISU was initially more a labour of love than a commercial venture and despite phenomenal success EVISU’s mission to create the highest quality products has remained unchanged. This underlying value defines EVISU’s position as an icon in the history of denim wear.
“Before anyone did anything, EVISU did everything.”
The company slogan of EVISU -“Before anyone did anything, Elvis did everything.” was originated from a quote by John Lennon, one of the members of the famous band, Beatles. The comment has expressed his ultimate admiration for Elvis Presley; who is often referred to as “King of Rock n’ Roll”. Elvis Presley’s creative productions and outstanding performances made him the icon in the history of Rock n’ Roll. Later on the founder of EVISU Mr. Hidehiko Yamane took on the notion of this quote and changed it to what becomes the slogan of EVISU today. This slogan was used in the most recent ready to wear collection as a celebration of EVISU’s 20th anniversary. As a pioneer in denim custom distressing and detail- oriented designs, EVISU strives to live out the notion of the company’s slogan. And to make the brand stand as the icon in the history of denim wear.
EVISU Elements/ EVISU Rules
Quality Guaranteed Logos Godhead & baby godhead - The playful portraits of ebisu with “kanji - 品質保証” represent the root of the brand as quality guaranteed.
Authenticity
EVISU jeans are made of selvedge denim, using authentic materials, vintage detailing and original methods at each stop in the production process; EVISU endorses this level of authenticity proud of the craftsmanship that goes into every single pair of jean.
Denim
Made in the traditional vintage way on original shuttle looms. This produces a looser weave and rougher texture, allowing the wearing and washing of the jeans to develop its own unique look and feel. The unmistakable indigo colour is achieved by loop dying, where the yarns are dipped up to 30 times, giving the deep EVISU denim tones. It typically weighs from 12.2oz to 13.5oz.
Threads
EVISU uses specific thread thickness and colour according to part of the jeans, a faithful nod to the way the original workwear garments were constructed. Up to 9 different threads may be used on a pair of jeans, varying in tone between yellow and black.
Selvedge
EVISU denim is made on narrow shuttle looms. The thread goes back and forth so at the edges you see it going back around on itself, making a smooth edge. Modern looms, made to mass-produce denim, shoot each thread through individually repetitively, hence the fraying imitator use unattractive chain stitching to mimic the selvedge. EVISU selvedge is usually red and white, it denotes the true authenticity of the production process and hence the EVISU jeans.
Buttons
Helping distinguish between products and ranges, EVISU use unique buttons crafted from original designs e.g. the Victory Stud was originally used during World War II. The reef pattern symbolizes victory, hence "EVISU Victory Stud". The dent in the middle of the button was formed not for styling purposes but to save on resources during war time. The middle part was taken out and used to make bullets.
Labels - NO. 1/ NO. 2/ NO. 3
The Godhead patch, used in poplin and cotton / leather bears the company's true signature. The smiling figure represents EVISU, the Japanese god of prosperity, who symbolizes EVISU's brand image and legacy. Kanji script refers to the quality and roots of the brand.
Pockets
The back pocket seagulls are the ultimate symbol of craftsmanship and detail that go into the creation of EVISU jeans" typically hand painted, printed or embroidered, this calligraphic signature deems the completion of the artisan production process.
History
1990s
1991 - EVISU was founded in Osaka Japan in 1991 and is named after the Japanese God of prosperity Ebisu. 1992 - The first shop, ‘Old Hampshire Bond” was opened in Osaka in April. 1993 - Three more shops, namely Crafted with Pride, Old Hampshire Bon and All Navy Champs were opened in Osaka, Nagoya and Kobe respectively. 1994 - An EVISU Tailor Daikanyama was opened in Tokyo and A Evisya Tailor Shinsai-bashi was opened in Osaka. EVISU started international distribution in May. EVISU started the fishing range “Dowluck” in August. 1995 - EVISU launched “Labor”, the first sub-label of EVISU in Japan. 1996 - The first international trade show of EVISU was held at Pitti Uomo in January. 1997 - Inspired by Tiger Woods EVISU launched the golf wear brand Cibuff. 1999 - EVISU and Adriano Goldschmied collaborated and designed a crossover S/S collection.
2000
• EVISU was invited to show A/W 2000 collection at the London Fashion Week in February. Celebrities, including Boy George, attended the show. EVISU was invited to showcase the A/W 2000 collection at Piti Uomo in February at Florence. To celebrate the millennium year, the limited edition “Millennium” with gold studs and 18 carat gold threads was launched. The jeans were all made in Japan and each pair was signed by designer. The retail price of each pair of jeans was USD2000 and only 200 pairs were made.
• EVISU Donna, the first women’s collection was launched in March.
• Made to order children’s selvedge jeans were introduced in Europe in March.
2001
• Designers of DoDenim EVISU and the Institute of Tropical Medicine of Antwerp invited top designers from Antwerp and Brussels spread the message of the prevention of Aids. 43 world-renowned designers and artists each designed a piece of EVISU denim and auctioned it off. All proceeds were donated to the Institute for research purposes. Participants include Martin Margiela, Raf Simons, Dries Van Noten, Walter van Beirendonck and Veronique Branquinho.
• In September “Vogue Italia”, Child Priority Foundation and EVISU hosted an auction to raise funds supporting up-and-coming young artist. 7 artists and 14 designers were invited to design furniture using EVISU denim. Gianfranco Ferre stumped up USD13,000 for a Ron Arad chair while Tom Dixon’s rocking chair was sold at USD5,500.
2002
• The S/S 2003 womens collection was shown in Milan Fashion Week in September. The first collaboration with Puma was marked by launching a football range in celebration of World Cup, collaboration under The EVISU Shoos Collection which had 100 designs per season. The first project was a co-branded limited edition suede shoes collection. A special edition EVISU jeans and jacket with the puma leopard in the shape of the EVISU Daicock were launched as part of the project.
2003
• "EVISU Donna", a new collection by Pamela Blundell was shown during Milan Fashion Week in February. The collection's theme was urban femininity, which included items such as denim outfits and military style items.
• The second "EVISU Donna" collection by Pamela Blundell was shown in Milan Fashion Week. The collection comprised of different shades of pink, Japanese floral prints and feminine silhouettes.
• EVISU sponsored the premier of Kill Bill, Vol.1, held of Empire, Leicester Square, London in October. EVISU entered the China market and was available at Lane Crawford Shanghai and Rex shops. In December, EVISU worked with Rex and organized a fashion show at Park 97 showcasing the EVISU Donna S/S 2004 collection.
2004
• EVISU opened its first shop outside Japan in Paris situated right next to Comme des Garcons on Rue du Faubourg St.Honore in March. Designed by the much sought-after British designer Hassan Abdullah who has worked on Philip Starcke’s new house in London, the store was an opulently decorated four-level denim emporium.
• The EVISU European Edition (EEE) was launched in January as a joint effort with the reputed Martelli in Italy. It was first introduced in S/S 2004 20-piece collection.
• The first retail location in the UK, a concession corner at Selfridges, London was opened in February.
• The A/W 2004 Collection was shown during Pret-a- Porter in Paris in September.
2005
• The A/W 2005 women’s collection was shown during Milan Fashion Week in February.
• The first Asia store outside Japan was opened in Hong Kong IFC Mall in March. The shop was featured in the book “Cool Shops in Hong Kong” published by teNeus in 2006 as one of the 32 featured shops.
• Participated in the Vogue Italia Editorial event at the Bulgari Hotel in Milan during Milan Festival Week.
• EVISU launched its line of grooming products in 2005.
• EVISU was invited to join the Hello Kitty 30th Anniversary Celebration “Hide and Seek”, A Hello Kitty x EVISU crossover capsule was launched. The collection included three limited edition design jeans, 100 women’s washed jeans, 50 men’s raw jeans and 50 kids’ rinsed jeans were available.
• The UK flagship “EVISU Saburo” was opened on Savile Row, London in September.
• The S/S 2006 women’s collection was shown during the Milan Fashion Week in September.
• The famous Japanese British artist Gez Fry was engaged to work on an advertisement for the EVISU Shoos collection.
2006
• WWW.EVISU.COM was launched in January.
• The A/W 2006 men’s and women’s collections were shown in Milan Fashion Week in February.
• The Puma x EVISU “True Love Never Dies” collection was available in February. The collection was a line of sheen treated black denim carrying a nice glossy look. The women’s items included an exposed heart on the front pocket while the men’s version featured a dagger hidden away a watch pocket flap.
• The first location in China opened inside the twostorey NOVO store at Raffles City in Shanghai in March.
• In collaboration with WAD magazine, “The Cube Gallery” exhibition was held in the Paris EVISU store in March. The gallery was inspired by the postmodern displays of art seen in Japan where art was placed side by side with pachinko machines and nightclubs, creating an uncanny allure.
• Working with one of the finest denim makers in Japan, a small number of high quality hand-dyed denim special editions box-set jeans were launched as part of the EVISU Deluxe collection in A/W 2006. It was priced at 960 pounds each.
• The second Hong Kong store was opened in Ocean Terminal.
• The S/S 2007 men’s and women’s collection was shown in the Los Angelo’s Mercedes Benz fashion week. The collection reinterpreted modern classics with reworked classic denim pieces.
• To celebrate the brand’s 15th anniversary, EVISU collaborated with Adriano Goldschmied men’s and women’s limited edition jeans with 1000 pieces... available worldwide. All jeans were cut from a rare and one of a kind denim created exclusively for EVISU by Adriano. US retail price was $400 for men’s and $350 for women’s.
• The S Magazine launch was held at EVISU Savile Row in November.
2007
• The A/W 2007 men’s and women’s collections were shown during New York Fashion Week. The collections paid tribute to the fusion of the East and the West and clearly demonstrated EVISU’s continuous expansion from denim to “ready to wear”.
• Two sunglasses ranges were launched in February, including a special collaboration with Linda Farrow.
• Puma and EVISU collaborated in the S/S 2007 collection by designing denim using a new Greencast color in response to the eco-friendly trend.
• 48 Hong Kong artists were invited to use EVISU denim as the raw material for artwork created specially a touring exhibition and subsequent auction. All proceeds were donated to the Hong Kong Children’s Cancer Fund.
• Brand story exhibition held in Shanghai in April. The history and craftsmanship of EVISU were spotlighted. The S/S 2007 collection was introduced during the exhibition period.
• Collaborated with Tiger Beer in the design competition “Translate your modern Asia” in Denmark and Germany from April to May.
• Collaborated with Adriano Goldschmied to launch a 50-piece women’s capsule collection “EVISU Goes Hollywood”.
• The Dirt Dozen (+1) project was launched. 13 members from the American online community Supertalk took turns to wear a pair of No. 1 Special EVISU jeans produced in 2000 over 13 months. The project examined the issues of the geographical aspect of fashion and style and the differential in time. Moreover, the project also experimented on how an individual’s everyday habits were represented by a pair of jeans.
• The first standalone shop in China was opened in Shanghai Xintiandi in November.
• The China chapter of EVISU Cube Gallery was opened in Shanghai in November. 48 artists and celebrities were invited to use EVISU’s raw materials to create artwork that can fit into a 36cm cube. All the pieces created were offered for sale and proceeds were donated to charity.
• The Sundance hand painting event “Life is Art” was held in London.
2009
• The flagship of West China opened in Chongqing in April.
• EVISU collaborated with WAD magazine and chose 10 creative individuals from Berlin to design a limited edition piece using EVISU’s selvedge denim. The works were then exhibited in high end fashion store DC4 in Berlin with an EVISU Block party hosted by WAD during Bread and Butter in July.
• EVISU was invited by Selfridges London to design a 100th Anniversary special edition commemoration product. EVISU designed Selfridges centenary multi-pocket jeans by fitting 95 extra miniature pockets onto a standard 5 pocket jeans. The EVISU seagull logo was hand painted in Selfridges Pantone 109 Yellow on the jeans. 100 unique embroidered T-shirts were also produced.
• Hand painting wall painting GQ event in London.
• The A/W 2009 menswear collection was inspired by the myths and monsters of Japan.
• The first shop in Singapore was opened in Paragon in September.
• Three special edition box set jeans and t-shirts featuring Dragon, Eagle and Tiger were launched as part of the A/W 2009 Asia Heritage Edition. The jeans were made of 14oz Japanese Kuroki selvedge denim and were embroidered with 3D dragon, eagle or tiger made up of 155,000, 180,000 and 160,000 stitches respectively. Each pair of jeans came in a vintage-treasure-boxinspired- padded –denimcovered wooden case.
• On the Artisan Day at Barneys in November, EVISU took over the men’s floor with artists from Saved Tattoo who personalized leather patches for hand-painted EVISU jeans.
2010
• The A/W 2010 collection was shown in ENK New York in January.
• In collaboration with Mandarina Duck, an accessories line Made in Italy was launched in January.
• EVISU had showed at the 1st Novo Mania in Shanghai in March.
• The first shop in Shenyang opened at Palace 66 in June. The shop’s décor were mainly sourced from antique markets in Kyoto and China.
• The third shop in Hong Kong was opened in Times Sqaure, Causeway Bay in November.
• The first collection designed by Scott Morrison was introduced in August as the A/W 2010 collection.
• In celebration of the brand’s upcoming 20th anniversary, EVISU collaborated with Common Projects to create a new line of sneaker for A/W 2010. The third shop in Hong Kong was opened in Times Square, Causeway Bay in November.
2011
• To celebrate the brand’s 20th anniversary, EVISU paid stylized tribute to its Japanese roots, its denim heritage and its trademark quirky humour in the S/S 2011 collection.
• In part of EVISU’s 20th anniversary celebration, rain boots were launched in the S/S 2011 collection to pay tribute to the founder’s love of fishing. The rain boots came in a denim drawstring bag.
• Jeans hand painting event was held at Selfridges, London.
• EVISU showed at the 2nd Novo Mania, Shanghai in March.
• Launched Royal Wedding Special Edition hand painted jeans in celebration of the Royal Wedding in the UK.
• A limited edition “Japan Relief” collection was launched. All sales were donated to the Red Cross to support relief efforts in Japan.
• In celebration of our 20th Anniversary, EVISU join forces with Warr’s Harley Davidson@ to create a one-off classically-inspired Harley-Davidson® motorbike in May 2011; hand-built by enthused bike designer, Charlie Stockwell, named the Kamome Sprinter.
• EVISU pop-up store was opened at Boxpark London.
• To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of EVISU, we had launched the “Make the Rules” project- 20 Years of Making Rules; 20 Years of Premium Denim.
• EVISU London worked with Don’t Panic Online to held “EVISU Make the Rules Competition” during November 3 to December 4 2011. EVISU selected 20 pieces from all the entries and showcase them at its Make the Rules 20’20 Denim Exhibition Party on 8 December 2011 in London.
• To celebrate its 20 years of journey of glory in denim world, EVISU London was teaming up with collectors, artists, fans and friends to hold an “EVISU 20’20 Denim Exhibition “at East London in Dec 8 2011.
• EVISU 20th Anniversary Collaborative Collections: EVISU X YOKA.
2012
• Launched EVISU GOLD EDITION- Year of the Dragon Denim with pre-order quantities of 500 sets globally. It created a legendary collection for the year 2012.
• For EVISU 20th Anniversary Project, EVISU has invited Japanese-born and New York-based artist Tomokazu Matsuyama for a cool cultural collaboration MATZU FOR EVISU Jeans Limited Edition Box Set.
• EVISU presented a live denim customization at EVISU BOXPARK to mark the Diamond Jubilee at 3rd June.
• Launched an ace collection – EVISU Denimpics in celebration of London Olympics 2012.
• Inspired by the summer of 2012, the Olympics, EVISU’s team of talented artists had worked together to create a mixed medium mural on the wall of our Boxpark store on 19th July.
• The appointment of Mr. Edison Chen as EVISU first-ever spokesperson for the Asia-Pacific region in Aug 2012 used “Make the rules” as the theme of brand campaign.
2013
• EVISU collaborated with UK graffiti artist INSA on a special edition capsule collection.
• EVISU opened their new concept store in Hong Kong, Central.
• EVISU held an exclusive party in Shanghai celebrating the release of their A/W13 collection.
• Collaborated with Wonderland Magazine on "The Barber" short film.
• A/W13 campaign advertised on Hong Kong trams.
2014
• Debut launch of "EVISU SUN" sunglasses collection.
• EVISU being re-invented with a whole new image for Autumn/Winter 2014.Seasonal imagery was shot by Fashion Photographer Terry Richardson.
• Collaborated with UK Urban Contemporary Artist - D*Face on a special edition capsule collection.
• Teamed up with DRESSCAMP, a renowned Japanese fashion brand for a collaborative limited edition capsule collection.
• Autumn/Winter 2014 campaign advertised in Hong Kong outdoor billboard.
• BESPOKE campaign featuring one of Asia's most talented singers/song-writers Pakho Chau.
2015
• Launched Year of Sheep limited edition jeans.
• EVISU Spring 2015 campaign imagery stays controversial followed by a whole new Summer 2015 collection.
• Collaborated with the legendary Moleskine® for a special edition notebook.
• Teamed up with American headgear brand New Era on a collaborative series of caps.
• Collaborated with London street fashion brand KTZ for the “Murky Denim Storm” capsule collection.
2016
• Launched Year of Monkey limited edition jeans. • Launched Chinese New Year limited edition underwear.
Collaboration
2014
• EVISU X D*FACE
In conjunction with D*Face’s first solo exhibition in Asia in 2014, EVISU produced a collaborative capsule collection with the street art heavy weight to be launched during Art Basel Hong Kong.