Tanuki Gyoten Heavy Black T-Shirt

T-shirts are a year-round staple, but the arrival of spring is the perfect occasion to add some newness to your collection. The Tanuki HSS Indigo t-shirt was an absolute best-seller in 2020, and now the brand has introduced a new Black rope-dyed version.

This is one of the most awesome t-shirts we have ever seen. The fabric is the same as the Shinkai indigo version; it is a very robust material that oozes quality. It’s a slub yarn that intentionally creates thinner and thicker parts to evoke a feeling of hand-spun yarn. This results in a unique look with a lot of texture. They used a count 8 yarn which is fairly thick for a t-shirt. This sturdy material will withstand countless washes and keep its shape. This very textured fabric is pigment-dyed with Sumi (Japanese black ink) and sulphur and will fade lovely overtime to a grey tone. As many of you probably know, there aren’t too many black fabrics that are rope-dyed as it is very labour and cost-intensive to change the dye tanks in the mills, which are usually filled with indigo.

Like all the Tanuki fabrics, this material is entirely made in Japan – spinning, rope dyeing, knitting, and processing are all done in a small Japanese mill. Tanuki has christened “Gyoten”: the night before down. These shirts are built to last to the highest standard in Japan: finished with chunky blue side seams and reinforced ribs at the neck.

There is the embroidered Tanuki 二 (Ni) logo in the shoulder, two parallel lines in Japanese Kanji representing the number 2. The lower line represents the past, tradition, the standard, peace. The upper line represents the future, change, strength. The red and blue colours refer to Japan’s flag, honouring their roots as denim artisans.

The Tanuki brand was established in 2016 in Okayama Prefecture. It comprises a small group of great artisans who are passionate about denim and boast more than 30 years’ experience in other brands in the industry. If there is something that characterizes Tanuki garments in addition to its modern cuts, it is the quality and variety of its fabrics, with prime importance given to the best cottons, natural indigo and the application of different types of tension on the shuttle looms when producing the fabrics.

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