Tanuki HSS Heavy Shinkai Indigo T-Shirt

This is one of the most awesome t-shirts we have ever seen. Tanuki created a brand new and 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. They used different shades of natural indigo to rope-dye this fabric which gives it significant variations of dark blue tones with lighter blue freckles within – it reminds us of waves in the ocean.

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. You can expect great fades with this dark blue fabric that Tanuki has christened heavy Shinkai (深海): the deep blue sea. These shirts are built to last to the highest standard in Japan: finished with chunky blue side seams and reinforced blue ribs at the neck.

In the shoulder, there is the embroidered Tanuki 二 (Ni) logo, 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 of their logo 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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