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Mastercraft Union

Why does Denim matter?

Denim is a subject that I feel is not totally understood in the world of the Basement. I myself did not understand for time why anyone would spend upwards of £500 on a pair of jeans and wear only those jeans day in and day out. That was until I experimented with more expensive denim after recommendation by Lew. Why is it that we will spend £400 on a cotton mass printed Supreme tee, £700 on Yeezys but only £30 on denim? Isn’t it mad?

Once you delve deeper into certain types of denim and understand the craftsmanship that goes into creating your pair you start to respect denim differently. One way of looking at it is, yes, you can buy denim in high street stores like Primark, Topman, River Island etc, but these jeans have been mass produced on such a scale that they are going to tear after a month of wear. Instead of re-buying £30 denim, invest in a pair of Edwin or Levi’s or Nudie and see how they fit differently in terms of comfort and also quality in comparison with cheaper jeans. Once you have experimented with more expensive denim you will want to move on to brands that retail high, but retail high for a reason such as 3-sixteen, Samurai and Mastercraft Union.

So, instead of re-buying cheap denim, you now have a pair that will last you much longer that will in fact morph to your legs rather than sit on you and will fade accordingly to your pocket contents.

The denim market is incredibly saturated, but anyone with a love for denim will be able to recite the same brands off the top of their head that are bringing you denim which is simple, brands which take the time to understand fabrics and fits that work best for different body types and lifestyles.

Although Mastercraft Union do not fall into the simple category, they produce hands down some of the most comfortable and impressive denim on the market, taking its name from “working with the masters of denim around the world”.

We were incredibly lucky to sit down with Nick Stavrakakis. Nick is the European representative of MCU, a brand that was started by Hiroyuki Yoshikawa in 2014. Nick explained the use of the Hummingbird as a representation of MCU’s ethos, a special bird that seeks rare and special flowers to pollinate in a symbiotic relationship. MCU only sells to the very best of stores in Europe and is selective to who can access its goods. You may see this as “my dicks bigger than yours” but this is far from the case, MCU know they have one of the biggest denim dicks in the game and do not need to remind people, the denim does that for them.

Nick explains that Hiro is very selective himself in his design and creation of his denim all the way to the end product. Hiro is a denim scientist who experiments with the best fabrics and has invented a denim that is one third made from traditional Japanese washing paper. This fabric is able to breath in the Summer but retain heat in the Winter making them perfect for all year round wear.

When it comes to the washing, only one wash house is used which is regarded as the best in the world, a 30 worker laundrette in the Japanese mountains that only work with existing customers and are constantly full. Here Hiro is able to experiment with different levels of wash as well as different levels of dirt and is able to push the fabric to its extremes to achieve that outstanding colour finish.

Whilst I understand that going from cheaper denim to brands such as MCU is a huge step, it would be amazing to see some people go out and try new denim. The satisfaction you get from wearing proper fitting denim that is comfortable and durable heavily outweighs the price point. You pay for what you receive and in the case of denim, that extra £70 will ensure you are set for a long time when it comes to jeans.

Anyone with Denim questions please hit us up at hello@bsmnt.wpengine.com we will answer all queries to the best of our ability.

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Written by @harteblanche 

Photos by @alex.ropes