An OD+PBJ Collaboration | The Natural Kakishibu Dyed Slub Tee

August 12, 2021

We’ve teamed up yet again with our friends from PBJ, to develop a marriage of supreme texture and traditional dyeing techniques. Turning again to the quintessentially Japanese Kakishibu (persimmon fruit), we embarked on a journey with Iwaya-san to create a natural canvas in the form of a tee, with no two pieces being the same.
Producing Natural Kakishibu dye is a notoriously slow process, which starts with harvesting the unripe fruit during Summer. The extracted juices must then undergo a one-year fermentation and storage process, in order to remove impurities such as organic acids prior to being refined as a dye. There is no exact science behind producing the "correct" hue of Kakishibu given the amount of variables which can effect the final resulting dye. Factors such as the quality of the fruit, fermentation method, season and even weather all tie into the production of creating this natural dye. 
Each individual tee goes through a labor-intensive process of being garment dyed by hand. A single round of the dip dyeing process involves immersing the tee in the Kakishibu dye before wringing it once/twice, followed by line-drying. This same process must be repeated 7-8 times in order to achieve the desired warm hue of brown.
Natural Kakishibu dye can almost be regarded as a living entity, in that it reacts to the surrounding environment and will age gracefully with extended wear. In particular, Kakishibu dye will react to UV rays and darken over time. Thanks to the irregular weave of the fabric and the variegated hues of Kakishibu, each tee can be considered a perfect natural canvas for the wearer and we thoroughly look forward to seeing how these patina over time.
Leather backed rivets and custom herringbone taping form both the aesthetically pleasing and impeccably constructed chest pocket.
PBJ's embroidered Indigofera leaf logo is also featured on the side seam of each tee.
Due to the irregularity of the yarns forming the fabric base, skin contact is minimized  to ensure that each wearer can enjoy the fruits of their labor in comfort and over extended wear.
Sizing

*Model is pictured wearing a size 3. He weighs 59kg (130 pounds) and is 178cm (5’11”) tall.

Size (CM) Chest Shoulder Centre Back Sleeve Armhole
2 98 40 63.5 17.5 15.5
3 104 43 65 18 16.5
4 108 45 67 19 17
5 114 48 70 20.5 17.5
6 120 50 72 21 18
Size (Inches) Chest Shoulder Centre Back Sleeve Armhole
2 38.6 15.7 25 6.9 6.1
3 40.9 16.9 25.6 7.1 6.5
4 42.5 17.7 26.4 7.5 6.7
5 44.9 18.9 27.6 8.1 6.9
6 47.2 19.7 28.3 8.3 7.1

The OD+PBJ Natural Kakishibu Dyed Tee drops on 8/12 @ Midnight (JST)


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