OD+PBJ 18oz. "Aisora" Selvedge Jeans (Regular Straight)

• 18oz. proprietary "Aisora" Indigo x Natural Indigo Japanese Selvedge Denim
• Unsanforized denim
• 100% Cotton
• Regular Straight fit
• Super Rough Warp yarns
• Hank dyed Tokushima Natural Indigo Weft yarns
• 5 button fly
• Blue Selvedge ID
• 0-Ban front and back pocket stitching construction
• Debossed "Aisora" Natural Cowhide Leather waistband patch
• "Aisora" Vein Tonal stitching Leaf Logo
• Red & White belt loop stitching on a single back left belt loop
• Raised Belt loops
• PBJ Original hardware (buttons & rivets)

When we started our ODP charity bracelet adventure back in 2011, we never dreamed to be in this position. Adding value to the industry, while lifting Japanese cultural awareness around the world through denim, has been a rollercoaster. The culmination of our decade in denim is finally here. Arriving here was a rocky path full of setbacks and unforeseen delays, but boy was the result worth the wait. Working from the yarn up, we developed a proprietary 18oz. super rough selvedge fabric. Highlighting the insane slub and nep that is quintessentially PBJ, while celebrating the hues of Natural Indigo only made possible by the meticulous dyeing processes of the Indigo artisans of Tokushima, the result is a combination we're seeing for the very first time using real Tokushima Aizome skein dyed yarns.
"Aisora" has been the driving factor behind our pursuit to achieve a fabric that we feel justifies the meaning behind the name. A double entendre of Japanese wordplay, "Ai" can be interpreted as either the Ai 藍 in Aizome 藍染 (Natural indigo dye), but also as Ai 愛 (love). Suffice to say, the passion we feel for denim has been paramount for us to bring this idea to fruition. More importantly, we wanted to pay homage to the love that we have continued to receive from Denimheads around the world for 10 years. The second half of the name "Sora" 空, is the Japanese word for sky. Coming in at a more esoteric angle, we felt that the lighter indigo hue of the weft is akin to a blue sky on a clear cast day.
With the moniker out the way, let’s talk about the cream of this project - the fabric. Pure Blue Japan’s coveted AI series has proven the brand’s penchant for creating some of the most goosebump-inducing Hank-dyed Natural Indigo fabrics but of course, a barrier has always been the high-price point. Commemorating our 10th Year Anniversary, we embarked on this project with a mission to be able to introduce Tokushima Natural Indigo to Denimheads around the world, at an approachable & fair price point. Having already tried and tested PBJ's coveted indigo “Super Rough” (SR) warp yarns with the release of our ODPBJ003, to give the fabric the substantial slub and nep we wanted. Now shifting our focus to the weft, the crown jewel of this fabric. Using Kasezome (Hank-dyed) Natural Indigo yarns produced by the aging craftsmen in Tokushima, we eventually settled on the sky blue hue of Indigo. This tone is achieved by repeating the process of hank dyeing the yarns used for the weft approximately 7-8 times each in Tokushima. The hank-dyed yarns are then sent to Okayama, to the factory responsible for weaving previous iterations of the "Super Rough" series. Combining the SR warp and Natural Indigo weft on vintage Toyoda shuttle looms, the heavyweight 18oz. Selvedge is carefully woven on only one machine, thus yielding a maximum of about 40-50 meters of this fabric in a day.
Always an imperative element in the development process, we weren't about to leave behind PBJ's iconic indigo leaf logo. Eventually we settled on color matching the weft color with the indigo vein, while turning the iconic leaf itself to a deep navy. This color combination reflects the Warp & Weft combination of our proprietary 18oz. "Aisora" selvedge, and finally we left the dotted red Selvedge salute unchanged. The leather patch is where we were able to let loose, and brought in artist and PBJ superfan, Nathan Spoor for the design. Elevating the jeans further without compromising Nathan’s insane design work had to be done in a subtle yet tasteful manner.  
Honing in on the AI genetic makeup of the weft, we had to make what we thought was an imperative request for the production of these jeans - to be produced in the same factory as PBJ's Natural Indigo series. While the meticulous construction conducted in this factory can be considered the pinnacle of denim construction in the prefecture of Okayama, there is always a catch with perfection. They take their sweet ass time to sew the jeans, mostly as a combination of their much older average working age in the factory, coupled with the fact that no corners are ever cut in this factory. More of a workshop given the smaller size and dwindling number of seamstresses, this factory uses the 0-ban thickness thread, or the thickest thread used for denim construction in Okayama. Up till this point only reserved for the Natural Indigo series, we are stoked to bring the same coveted thread construction to our Aisora's.