Episode 1
The origins of Kurabo Denim
Japan quality and global ambitions
1970
Kurabo first Japanese company to
enter denim production business
As American culture infiltrated Japan in the 1960s, jeans imported from the U.S. captured the hearts of Japanese youth. Foreseeing jeans as a coming worldwide fashion trend, Kurabo was quick to embark on research into denim yarn centered on its Okayama Plant.
In 1970, we became the first Japanese company to launch a denim business. Besides spinning the yarn, we also teamed up with partner companies in an integrated process of yarn dyeing, weaving, and textile finishing. Our KD-8 denim, a fabric lauded for its quality in Japan and around the world, became the blueprint for all subsequent Japanese denim.
2015
New brand of high-end denim
Kurabo Denim
Prime Blue takes on the world
Kurabo Denim has always enjoyed a stellar reputation among fashion brands in the U.S. and Europe. But as the world’s denim market becomes polarized between price and quality, demand is rising for products with that extra added value. To respond to the jeans’ market’s diversifying needs, we formed global development teams for our production network and revamped our denim brands.
In 2015, Kurabo introduced a new high-end brand, Kurabo Denim Prime Blue. We are leveraging Japanese quality and the brand power Kurabo has built up to accelerate our entry into the world’s markets for high-value-added denim.
Kurabo’s DNA lives on from generation to generation
Newspaper ad published in 2017