For many businesses in Japan, Covid was a tough run. The dynamics of the local Japanese denim industry took its toll in a big way, with a shrinking of the entire industry all the way up from raw cotton importers and spinning companies down to the weavers and sewing crews. For the most recent brand to join the OD roster, the hurdles arrived just before the Corona storm.
After dominating the denim game since their inception in 1996, the cracks started appearing by the 2010s from within the Nagano-based brand started by Masayoshi Kobayashi after aggressive expansion into numerous ventures both in and out of the fashion realm. By 2020 the brand had filed for bankruptcy, shuttering stores locally and closing accounts abroad across the board. The future looked bleak. Cue Sirius Ventures, a VC fund that took over the reins of the apparel business of The Flat Head soon after the brand filed for bankruptcy and the founder, Kobayashi-san, stepped down as the director.
