Friday, June 29, 2007

Natural History of Neighborhood Jeans



Yup yup. Some of the world's truly manliest, baddass, and SAVAGE jeans can be found in the Neighborhood collection.

A lot of people out there may not be aware of this Japanese brand that had recently gone popular; some of you probably don' even know this brand exists. Well, a brief history of this brand:

Established by SHINSUKE TAKIZAWA in Uraharajuku, Tokyo, Japan back in the 1990s; rumors had it that the designers of now rich and famous: Nigo of Bape, Jun of Undercover, and Tetsu of W)Taps all had the idea of creating their "own" style of street apparels since they were not really appreciating other popular brands; in another word, they couldn't "feel" the popular brands.

As a result, these stars of the future decided to create their own brands, starting with cheap Hang's t-shirt with a low rental warehouse, they each hand crafted some of the most original tees at that time. Being good friends (even till now.) they gave out most of the tees as gifts to friends and families.

Many people who received these clothings wore them and caught attention from the streets and soon these labels are recognized; their love and passion for the fashion did not diminish and they continued to succeed (look at Nigo of A Bathing Ape). Shinsuke Takizawa of Neighborhood actually just opened his 3rd store in Japan this year, after 10+ years of generating one single store in literally NOWHERE in uraharajuku, Japan. He could have opened stores crazy with the quality of his jeans and jackets, I mean seriously, BAPE jeans are selling $300+ with its so-so design and quality; IMO NBHD jeans are so much doper...but anyway, what I want to say is that Shinsuke Takizawa chose to stay low toned and masterfully crafted his jeans overtime, and it took him 10 years to really decide to open more retail stores. However, as some of you may know, he's doing it big this year with the Supreme collaboration and his kids selection, aka the White Wall, and his other main investment in lower cost, basic clothing line: "Base Control". (a line that is quite similar to Hare and Gap)

Neighborhood jeans hadn't really gain any recognition outside of Japan up until 2002, and that was when I started to pay attention to Neighborhood jeans since celebrities like Edison Chen was wearing them and they just looked incredibly fresh. So, for a starter, here we go! Enjoy the pictures!

2002 Savage Basic



2003 Max Savage (indigo)

This one gained major attention from the streets of Asia. I first noticed Edison Chen wearing it in an award show, I disliked him back then... but it looked really fresh though..




2003 Max Savage Basic (black)



2004 Washed Basic (indigo)

This pair in my humble opinion is possibly the MOST classic NBHD washed jeans.



2004 Metal Savage Basic (black)




2004 Savage Ripper (NOTE: market price is now over $1500)

This pair is in deed THE MOST sought after NBHD jeans EVER. The wash, the cut, the stitches...truly breath-taking, both the look and THE PRICE ($1500+??? you gotta be kidding.)





2005 Crack Savage
(never really liked this one...)



2005 Washed Basic BLACK FLAG
(special edition for the black flag store.)



2005 Lightning Savage

The only dope one that I own.






2006 Kneel Down Savage



2006 Savage Ripper Euro ONLY
(50 pairs limited "retro" for the 2004 Savage ripper, extremely rare...market priced $1200, I really wanted it...but damn...12 hundred...sigh)





2006 Fixtion Savage
(newest line for A/W collection, kinda getting old w/ that wash.)



2007 S/S: Wolverine Savage Black

Hello? Stop abusing the ripper effects!!!


Wolverine Savage Indigo

Still nice tho. but not $1K nice.



NEWEST: 2007 S/S FLASH SAVAGE


























>_<;; SO SWEET! That's about it folks, more other dope jeans to come!

My first post in Jacky's First Choices

Welcome to Jacky's very first post!

This blog is dedicated to perhaps my most severe addiction: My love for the sneakers, vintage jeans, Japanese uraharajuku street fashions and whatnot.

There are other blogs in which I write about my personal life on, but I never really got to lay my hands in where my interests fall. It's all good to let out your personal life and whine and bitch about it, but not when you create a blog just so everyone else can give you some insightful thoughts about your life.

So here it is, I'm just going to write about whatever new stuff that catches my eye, also sharing some of the basic knowledges that I possess during the "game" of collecting shoes and jeans and whatnot.

So here it is, my first post! PEACE!