Hello.
I'm Noguchi from CASANOVA&CO.
THE NULABEL held an event in January.
At that time, we held an event called "NU-ORDER," where customers could view undyed, bleached products and choose a dyeing process.
During this event, I had the opportunity to visit "Aiya Terroir," who is responsible for THE NULABEL's natural indigo dyeing, and gained many insights into the dyeing process, which is rarely discussed openly.
However, on the other hand, you have basically only seen the bleached products, which means that we haven't yet introduced the "true THE NULABEL" in that sense.
Therefore, we prepared a small quantity for sale at our store, timed with the production of orders placed during the event.
Allow me to re-introduce the actual products.
THE NULABEL
GARMENT DYED CARGO TROUSERS [CASANOVA&CO Ex.]
color _ NATURAL INDIGO
size _ S,M,L
Cargo pants made from the brand's standard biodegradable "bionylon," dyed with natural indigo by Aiya Terroir.
All the clothes I'm introducing today use this "bionylon," and personally, I find nylon to be very interesting right now.
I think many people develop a stronger aversion to materials classified as synthetic fibers the more they become interested in clothing.
Honestly, I'm the same.
While I don't have an extreme ideology like "anything with even 1% synthetic fiber is a no-go," I do honestly have a feeling that "natural fibers are somehow superior to synthetic fibers."
I think this is a feeling influenced by distribution prices, material origins, and the texture of the resulting fabric, but I felt it was time to question it.
Because I absolutely hate the dichotomous thinking of "natural fibers are high quality" ≒ "synthetic fibers are low quality."
So, last year, I actively incorporated nylon materials into my life, from clothes and bags to sneakers that I personally bought.
As a result, I realized that nylon can be a very rational choice, depending on how you use it.
No, more than rational, it's an appealing choice.
Of course, just as not all natural fibers are high quality, I don't think all nylon is either, and if it's not cool or beautiful looking, I wouldn't even be attracted to it. But I was able to remove the "invisible hurdle" I felt about choosing nylon.
And since January, I've been wearing THE NULABEL's natural indigo-dyed bionylon cargo pants.
They are, after all, very appealing.
They dry quickly even after getting wet in light rain or being washed, and their appearance lacks any seasonal feel, making them very easy to use during transitions between seasons like now.
While they may not possess the natural functionality of high-quality natural fibers, that can be compensated for with other clothing, and there's a joy in their evolution that polyester and other materials don't offer.
In the case of THE NULABEL, moreover, a refined dyeing background is layered onto the nylon.
By infusing natural dyes into the flat impression of synthetic fibers, a beautiful expression is created that cannot be seen in natural fibers.
This industrial uniformity and the uneven fluctuations brought about by natural dyeing and handcraft.
Furthermore, THE NULABEL's unique minimalist finish emphasizes the traces of handcraft without being overly apparent.
A balance and exhilaration unlike anything I've experienced before.
From THE NULABEL's naturally dyed bionylon, I felt a strange sense of exhilaration that could not be expressed solely by the word "rationality" — a feeling I had never experienced even from natural fiber items — which I discovered through my experience of actively incorporating nylon into my life.
Well, I imagine this feeling is hard to understand without actually owning it, but I'd like to mainly show you photos of me wearing it, hoping that you can at least feel the "exhilaration" part of it.
As many of you may have already noticed, I am an absolute cargo pants enthusiast, so we always have multiple brands of cargo pants in stock. THE NULABEL's cargo style is also one of their staples.
However, among the various cargo pants on the market, I think it has a remarkably solid and masculine silhouette.
While the silhouette is by no means slim, the waist area is designed to be more compact compared to typical cargo pants.
The hip area also has a clean, streamlined form.
This stoic design is a point where I strongly feel THE NULABEL's and Hamada-san's distinctiveness.
From the waist down, the silhouette falls straight down.
It's not supposed to be slim, but it looks slender, or rather, stylish.
I think it's an excellent shape that completes the impression of the entire body just by wearing it.
In contrast to its refined silhouette and austere impression, these are tactical-looking 6-pocket cargo pants.
The base is probably "that cargo pants" from the French army, but with COBRAX snaps, riri zipper slash pockets, and so on, it gives a modern impression rather than a rustic one.
On the other hand, Hamada-san's style is to reinforce the bottom of the cargo pockets with herringbone tape, which also emphasizes the puckering.
This balance of dynamic expression within the modern tactical feel.
I think it has so much character that you can feel it's THE NULABEL just from the form and how the fabric moves, rather than from the design itself.
After all, those kinds of clothes are cool.
And above all, this color.
When I did the first dyeing, it was a dazzling light blue, but after about 10 rounds of dyeing by Aiya Terroir, it became a deep indigo color that shines like an aurora.
I keenly felt that the true art of dyeing lies in the process of adjusting the indigo vats and the number of dyeing cycles to match the final product, all while carefully tending to the indigo that has been cultivated for a year.
So, it's natural that my first attempt resulted in a decent dye.
The depth lies in the subsequent dialogue between the indigo and the fabric.
The combination of THE NULABEL's bionylon and Aiya Terroir's natural indigo dyeing is so powerful on its own that it might be best to pair it with something as simple as possible.
From now until before midsummer, these cargo pants with just one T-shirt will be perfectly fine.
Oh, but be careful with white T-shirts as the dye might transfer.
But I think these pants have such a beautiful appearance.
THE NULABEL
GARMENT DYED BDU JACKET [CASANOVA&CO Ex.]
color _ NATURAL INDIGO
size _ S,M,L
This is a BDU jacket made from the same natural indigo-dyed bionylon.
I think this also has quite an impact.
Similar to the cargo pants, all the flap pockets feature herringbone tape at the bottom.
With four pockets tightly puckered like this, it makes for a grand impression all on its own.
I am not a "puckering fundamentalist" who approves of any puckering, but this time, given that it's a special order with bionylon x cotton thread stitching from an event, and also because Hamada-san himself uses herringbone tape to promote puckering, I am in full puckering-approved mode this time.
This herringbone tape and puckering naturally create a bulge in the pockets, contributing to the three-dimensional feel of the garment.
Despite the grand puckering festival on the front, the back is beautifully elegant.
This is what I love about THE NULABEL and Hamada-san's clothes.
The back is truly beautiful.
As you can see in the photo, there is absolutely no excess fabric from the neck to the shoulder blades.
Yet, it has the minimum necessary range of motion and enough room to not look restrictive.
While many BDU jackets on the market have a loose fit, this one has a sharp, streamlined form that isn't clunky.
I definitely recommend it to those who are used to looser fits.
The shoulder area also gives an impression of being clean and uncluttered rather than simply compact.
In that sense, perhaps the shape is also "rational."
Personally, I like the balance of incorporating THE NULABEL's bionylon as a focal point within natural fiber clothing.
It's like dampening the warmth, or making the atmosphere a little cooler.
But I believe that simply the coolness of industrial products would create an incongruous balance.
THE NULABEL's naturally dyed nylon, including its unique texture and the fact that it's hand-dyed, exhibits an expression that is close to the "unevenness" and "rhythm" inherently present in natural fiber expressions.
I feel that THE NULABEL's "HERITAGE & NEW AGE" is expressed in these aspects.
It's best to pair this BDU with simple items, just like the pants.
The clothes are already cool enough, so that's all you need.
However, as mentioned earlier, I personally think it's better to pair it with clothes that have a more natural fiber texture, such as cotton chinos or rough linen materials.
THE NULABEL
GARMENT DYED WORK SHIRT [CASANOVA&CO Ex.]
color _ KURE
size _ S,M,L
This is bionylon dyed with kure dye.
THE NULABEL's kure dyeing, and the persimmon tannin dyeing that forms its base, are all handled by "Oomae-san" in Shiga Prefecture.
For THE NULABEL, dyeing at Oomae-san is so iconic that they once had a crazy season where the entire collection was made with persimmon tannin dyeing.
I myself had known about Oomae-san's persimmon tannin and kure dyeing through a different channel for several years, and I became addicted to kure dyeing after purchasing a LUGGAGE LABEL OLDNEW nylon kure-dyed bag about two years ago.
So, I had the work shirt dyed with kure.
Kure dyeing also has a characteristic scent.
I often liken it to the smell of "smoked food," but since current technology doesn't allow you all behind the screen to smell it, please come to the store and take a sniff.
I can drink whiskey just by smelling this scent.
My drinking habits are irrelevant, so let's talk about clothes.
THE NULABEL presupposes garment dyeing, but among such brands, I feel that their sewing is done quite meticulously.
As mentioned earlier, garment dyeing involves movement in the stitching, such as puckering, and movement in the fabric, such as shrinkage and oil loss, which can make it difficult to convey the subtle nuances of the stitching.
Even so, THE NULABEL is quite accomplished.
This closer-up photo clearly shows how fine the stitches are.
Nylon fabric, with this stitch count, and this thread count. Furthermore, I specified cotton thread.
Despite its beautiful appearance, I think it's a pretty tough sewing specification.
However, of course, THE NULABEL garment dyes it.
It's not a beauty designed to be appealing, but rather an inevitable beauty, as if it "is because it should be."
The sewing quality of THE NULABEL is uncompromising in this regard.
Persimmon tannin and kure dyeing on nylon create a paper-like stiffness that is firmer than natural indigo-dyed nylon.
This stiffness will break down with wear, but the unique crispness and volume it creates when worn are appealing.
The texture of the fabric, which either gently drapes away from the body or folds as it moves, offers a different expression from that of high-density natural fibers.
This feeling of the fabric becoming sharp with movement.
This is a characteristic expression of persimmon tannin and kure-dyed nylon.
Although they become familiar with wear, the ability to gradually mold them to your body is unique to garment-dyed nylon.
This is because garment dyeing natural fibers alone gives them a well-worn look.
Nylon, in fact, is a fiber with less than 100 years of history.
Unlike materials like silk and linen, which humans have cherished for centuries, nylon is an industrially developed material.
The kind of contradiction inherent in applying historical natural dyeing techniques to nylon, thereby bringing out an unprecedented expression of nylon, is where THE NULABEL's philosophy can be strongly felt. The balance of pattern design and sewing specifications combined with this technique, I believe, creates a unique genre pioneered by THE NULABEL.
I think naturally-dyed nylon will open the door to a new style.
I would be delighted if those who are interested would take a look.