Perhaps the granddaddy of them all, Big John has been there from the start. They made the first Japanese jeans in 1965 (made using American denim imported into Japan from Canton Mills) and created the first Japanese denim in 1972. The years that followed saw Big John embark on many successful campaigns through the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, becoming a popular and trusted brand the world over.
The brand however started way back in 1940 as a sewing factory, focusing on work wear, student uniforms, and American military style clothing that was gaining in popularity at that time. Not yet making jeans themselves, they would import American-made jeans and have them resized for the Japanese market. They eventually landed a deal in 1964 with the above-mentioned U.S. mill for 50 rolls of denim and began the tradition of creating jeans in Japan and, as they say, the rest is history!
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