Okayama – «Capital of Denim» – is home to numerous renowned jeans brands. One of the most famous and at the same time most extraordinary is KAPITAL. Not only the products are unique worldwide, but also the company philosophy differs in many ways from other manufacturers.
While the founder of the company, Toshiyoko Hirata, was intensively engaged in the reproduction of American jeans in Kojima, his son Kiro studied art and design in America. Today, as the designer of KAPITAL, Kiro is focused on the combination of tradition and modernity. The philosophy of the Hiratas is to counteract today's fast fashion industry through quality.
Century Denim – the Heart of the Collection
The centerpiece of the KAPITAL collection is the Century Denim, which combines traditional Japan with the modern West. The denim is dyed with kakishibu (juice of the persimmon), Japanese ink or true indigo. In addition, the denim is reinforced with indigo dyed sashiko cotton yarn, which looks decorative and gives the denim its unique appearance. When washed, the different dyes mix and the denim ages in many color fades, creating a special patina.
Thanks to his father's years of experience in denim manufacturing and Kiro's spirit of experimentation, he was able to develop Century Denim. It is not simply a reproduction, but something new. Century Denim is the fusion of Japanese tradition, traditional craftsmanship and innovation. The name means that the denim history, which began a hundred years ago, will continue for another hundred years.
