Cerita - Iron Heart

Iron Heart was originally made for bikers, and even today that focus guides design and construction of the clothing. Confident that the clothes appeal to a variety of owners, Haraki-san conceives of them to be worn by riders and for their preferences. Iron Heart garments are in the main made from heavyweight fabrics, designed to be durable, and to some extent protective for motor bikers. Iron Heart clothing is classic in materials and styling, using mostly flannels, denim and chambrays for shirts, and basing jackets on time tested military or riding favourites. Some designs – for example the 25oz XHS (extra heavy selvedge) denim jeans - are at the limit of what can actually be woven and sewn: “over-engineered is our starting point.”

 Contoh Iron Heart 21oz Selvedge.

  Contoh Iron Heart 21oz Non-Selvedge.

About Iron Heart and Triple Works – Works Inc

Shinichi Haraki established Works Inc (AKA The Works Japan) in 2003. After 20 years of working in the garment industry in Japan, beginning as a pattern maker for Edwin and advancing to designer and producer/director for the company, he decided to create a heavyweight Japanese clothing brand, aimed initially at the Japanese motorcycling community.

Giles Padmore and Haraki-san started working together in 2005.  This close partnership and firm friendship, coupled with the increased focus on the market outside of Japan which Giles brought to the party, has generated a loyal following throughout the world.  Our customers come from all walks of life, and many of them – but certainly not all – are bikers. The common factor is a love of ethically manufactured, beautiful and durable clothing. Sales of Triple Works began in 2012, to complement and expand the existing range of Iron Heart clothing.

The Works Inc Ethos

The Works creates classic and timeless clothing crafted out of the finest materials to the highest standards. This is not reproduction clothing; rather the study of classic denim and workwear styles and constructing them for today’s lifestyle. No attention is paid to fashion trends, nor that other jeans manufacturers have jumped onto the heavy denim bandwagon in the last few years.

From the selection of the type of cotton used, to the weave of the denim, The Works is actively involved in the full garment lifecycle. This also includes designing and producing bespoke fabrics. The mills and workshops used are mostly small and family-run, whose deep pride in their products matches that of Works Inc.

Triple Works

Triple Works is a collaboration between Works Inc and three close partners all based in Kojima (the denim capital of Japan): TSS (the denim and fabric supplier to Works Inc), CDK (the company who supplies and prints the loopwheeled t-shirts for Works Inc) and WRD (the factory which produces most of the shirts for Works Inc). Whilst Haraki-san is responsible for all design and production, the other partners have some input into the range of Triple Works, which is generally produced in lighter weight fabrics with some innovative design features. Many Triple Works garments are pure indigo dyed, designed to fade beautifully, and the range includes organic cotton/natural indigo jeans and shirts. The garments are made to the same exacting standards in the same factories as Iron Heart. Triple Works sits comfortably alongside Iron Heart, and in hot climate regions where some heavyweight Iron Heart gear is difficult to wear, Triple Works is becoming a firm favourite.

 Antara product lain keluaran Iron Heart.

Iron Heart 25oz antara seluar paling berat keluaran Iron Heart. Kat bawah ni Bozzo nak petik satu temubual antara En Giles Padmore – (the person (from UK) who introduced Iron Heart to the world outside Japan), yang pernah diterbitkan didalam blog denimsandjeans.com.

I believe the Iron Heart jeans were started by Japanese bikers 9 years back.. Can you tell us more about how the brand originated and with what purpose in mind?

Yes, Iron Heart was set up 9 years ago by Shinichi Haraki.  Haraki-san is a dedicated Harley Davidson fan and lover of vintage clothing.  His concept behind Iron Heart was to make clothing that worked perfectly for bikers and took absolutely no notice of fashion. He wanted his clothing to be beautifully made out of the highest quality fabrics, to be absolutely pure in function and last well, but age beautifully.  An interesting and not anticipated side effect is that his clothing is loved by non-bikers too, I would estimate that only 5-10% of the garments we sell outside of Japan are sold to bikers.

How does Iron Heart stand out from other Japanese Denim brands ?

I think that Iron Heart is unique in that it takes zero notice of fashion trends.  We have always concentrated on making the best clothing we can, irrespective of what is happening on the high street.  Our clothes have a timeless quality about them that will not date.

Iron heart jeans are believed to be the heaviest jeans . Is it so ?

Our normal weight denim is 21oz, this compares to 13-16oz for most other brands.  We also do the IH634SR which in its raw state is 21oz, but when washed comes out at a hefty 23oz.  There are a couple of denims out there that claim to be heavier, however our driving force is not to make the heaviest denim you can buy, but to make the best denim for the article we are creating.  Haraki personally designs from scratch all our denims, from the selection of the cotton, to the choice of the dye, to the weaving process.  One thing to note is that our 21oz denim is some of the most comfortable denim you can wear. 

How does Iron Heart maintain the comfort aspect of the jeans in such a heavy fabric eg  -The  23 oz jeans (IH634SR) that you have launched recently?

Because we use the highest quality long staple cotton, the warp and weft do not have to be overly spun to keep their integrity.  The result is that we can make a heavy denim that is really quite soft and comfortable.  Yes, it is true, you will have to suffer a little bit of pain to get the 23oz to submit, but once you have done that, they too are really comfortable.

Is the denim fabric used in  Iron Heart jeans produced in  Japan only ?

Yes 100%.  And more so it is designed from scratch by Haraki.

Magik. Kebanyakan seluar 21oz memang pandai berdiri sendiri. Pengalaman Bozzo pakai seluar keras dan berat gini memang menyeronokan lebih-lebih lagi 2 minggu pertama. Memang melecet habis peha ngan lutut.