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A Love Story | Starring : Japanese Indigo Prints and 18 Waits

A Love Story | Starring : Japanese Indigo Prints and 18 Waits

Every collection we offer many different styles of shirting, trousers, knits and outerwear, in a wide variety of high quality textiles - wools, cotton, linens, solids, prints, and everything in between. Without fail - season after season - some of our best selling items are made from Indigo Cotton from Japan.


The Japanese are widely known for quality within the garment and manufacturing sectors and the fabrics we source from there are no exception. They’ve also mastered the art of indigo dying - by far one of our favorite colors we come back to time and again. 
These designs are created using a process known as discharge printing - a method of applying a design to dyed fabric by printing a colour-destroying agent to bleach out a white or light pattern on the darker coloured ground. But what’s so interesting about the fabrics we’ve sourced are the beautiful prints they use on these indigo dyed fabrics - which quite literally tell a story. All of the printers who produce the fabrics that we use are quite famous in Japan. All of the designs are based on traditional Japanese motifs and can be found on kimonos, fine chinaware, and, for the past 11 years, 18 Waits apparel and accessories!

Here are the stories behind some of the beautiful Japanese fabrics that you’re wearing - enjoy!

 

Snow 
Considered a symbol of good harvest - the spirit of grains. When it snows a lot in the winter, it will be a good harvest the next fall.

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Triangles
A Japanese motif from ancient times, it is believed that triangles can protect from evil spirits. 

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Wave
The Japanese evoke the wave motif to signify the wish for an eternal and peaceful life, like that of a gentle wave.


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Shark Skin
People believed it can protect from evil spirits because shark skin is stiff and tough.

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Flower of Chrysanthemum
The flower of perennial youth and long life. 

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 Indigo Stripe Cap

 Stripe
This stripe design comes from a southern island in Japan and is often used in Kimonos.

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Wild Blue Bill Shirt

Cherry Blossoms

An iconically Japanese flower and motif that's famous the world over.  The cherry blossom represents the fragility and the beauty of life. It's a reminder that life is almost overwhelmingly beautiful but that it is also tragically short.
 

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