MOMOTARO JEANS was born in the town of Kojima in the Okayama Prefecture, a world-renowned denim production area and has since gone on to become synonymous with ground-breaking quality. Here, we talk with Masataka Suzuki, the COO to learn more about the history of the brand and what the future looks like.
Launched in 2006 by JAPAN BLUE, a company that develops and sells unique denim products, MOMOTARO JEANS has inherited the knowledge and techniques of its predecessors who built the foundations of Japanese denim and utilised this to create the best material in the world today by carefully selecting, dyeing, weaving and sewing the best denim of this generation.
The business currently operates six stores across Japan in Aoyama, Koenji, Kojima Ajino, Osaka, Okayama and Kyoto. Its most recent store, MOMOTARO JEANS KYOTO, was opened on 13 July in Kyoto, a city where people from all over the world gather and where tradition and innovation intersect, as a base to introduce the appeal of new “Japanese Denim” to people in Japan and from around the world.
The store was built in a Kyoto machiya (a traditional wooden townhouse) while carefully combining new materials and utilising old ones to celebrate its beauty, embodying the connection between the values that have been passed down to the present and connecting it to the next generation.
“I believe it is important now to spread the brand’s attitude towards our products to consumers. We would then like to strengthen our retail position, which is the place for the greatest experience for consumers. We would also like to expand our digital arm and share the value of our products across the world; to have them be recognised by people around the globe,” highlights Masataka Suzuki, COO of JAPAN BLUE.
When we push Suzuki on the topic of new countries he would like to expand the brand into, he mentions Europe, in particular France, as a major market for the company moving forward.
“Japanese craftsmen, who have inherited traditional techniques, are known for their ‘precision, politeness, delicacy and conciseness’, which are the qualities that support high quality manufacturing. We believe that denim created with this aesthetic sense will be appreciated in Europe as well.”
MOMOTARO JEANS are not bound by the conventional denim framework and as such they offer new products made with their own originally developed materials. In Japan, there are many world-class artisans in various fields and they are actively collaborating with such artisans to embody a new concept of luxury. For example, Oshima Tsumugi from Amami Islands in Japan is one of the world’s three most famous textiles and is highly regarded for its unique beauty created by artisanal techniques. They are currently in the process of developing new denim with such Oshima Tsumugi craftsmen, which is truly the first and only product of its kind in the world.
“We see great value and potential in Japanese denim, created with the spirit of craftsmanship and traditional techniques. Our goal is to deliver the authenticity of denim to the world, while continually taking on new and innovative challenges for future growth.”
Unlike other industrial products, denim has a unique concept of value, in which ‘ageing’ is not regarded as deterioration, but as a change that increases the value of the product. In other words, the footprints of the owner’s life can be seen in the denim after wearing the product for a long time.
“This is why we are expanding the lifetime value of our products from the consumer’s point of view, not only through the purchase experience, but also through services that support a lifelong relationship between the consumer and the product (lifetime product warranty) and further expansion of the community, both on- and offline,” comments Suzuki.
The increased importance of social media means that it is now possible for companies to tell consumers everything about the brand. Suzuki explains that they want to communicate the authenticity of their products by giving consumers details about the ‘spirit of craftsmanship’ of their artisans in every production process. They also want their online contents to demonstrate that their jeans can be worn on different occasions, in different areas, by different ethnicities and by different genders.
Moving onto key drivers behind the growth of the concept, the company believes that the creation of new values manufactured by the handiwork of craftsmen, which they have valued since their inception, is a major factor that has supported the brand up to now and contributed greatly to the success it has seen. Word of mouth is another key factor in their success, as they feel that many people who purchase from MOMOTARO JEANS introduce the brand to others.
“We see great value and potential in Japanese denim, which is created with the manufacturing spirit and traditional techniques of the textile industry that Kojima in Okayama Prefecture has fostered and we have a desire to pursue authenticity by creating denim that is incomparable to any other denim made in Japan. We are committed to the philosophy of ‘delivering the authenticity of denim to the world’,” the COO comments.
“Moving forward, we want to continue to take on new and innovative challenges that will lead to further growth and allow the company to flourish with new growth engines,” concludes Suzuki.
