Headed by Toru Haramoto, The Strike Gold is another Okayama-based maker of exceptional jeans. Known for their irregularly-textured fabrics and incredible fades, The Strike Gold’s raw jeans can be a bit of a mission for the first couple wears due to the extreme stiffness and roughness of the unsanforized fabric. With a bit of patience and profanity however, the initial discomfort will be rewarded with an incredible looking and fitting pair of jeans. Like many other Japanese denim brands, The Strike Gold takes cues from old time Americana, from turn-of-the-century cowboy and work wear to the vintage styles of the 1950s. The Strike Gold has also struck upon Zimbabwean cotton which they use to great effect in recreating the look and feel of the denim of yesteryear.
Haramoto-san and crew are apologetic about the initial stubbornness of their products, but assure us that by starting off in such a raw state your jeans will become a testament to the lifestyle you lead, the fades and abrasions coming out at points unique only to you: ‘If ten people bought the exact same item, with time and wear they are going to become ten different items.’
The Strike Gold are also very dedicated to all components of their jeans aging in concert with each other, right down to working out the perfect combination of metals to use in their hardware so that they will rust perfectly along with the fading of the jeans. Hamamoto-san uses The Strike Gold to make just exactly what he wants to make, while their sister company, Tenryo Denim, tends to be more experimental and able to answer more to customers’ demands. Not sold in many places, grab some The Strike Gold when and where you can!