The Ultimate Jeans, Updated

You can do a lot in two years: learn a language, get good at pottery, travel the world in a caravan, maybe even renew your driver’s license...

We used that time to come up with our new denim: a homage to Japanese selvedge made responsibly in Europe.

And they’re available to preorder now.

If you’re here, there’s a good chance you have two minutes to read about how we made it happen: a story of European innovation, shuttle looms and fungi dyes.

If you're familiar with Asphalte, you'll be familiar with the Ultimate Jeans, one of our flagship items, with some 65,000 pairs currently on the go, making 130,000 or so legs very happy. Suffice to say, they’re a huge success.

The keys to their success thus far? Authentic Japanese selvedge denim, a tailored cut that's neither too straight nor too narrow, hard-wearing details and expert Portuguese manufacture.

So… we’d be mad to change anything, right?

Well, at Asphalte we’re dedicated to making the best possible clothes as responsibly as we can. And a big part of that is working with partners as close to home as possible and Japan, sadly, doesn’t quite fit the bill.

So two years ago we decided to take the plunge and bring our denim production back to Europe. Without realising it, we’d embarked on our biggest project to date.

Yes, it's all very well saying you’ve turned your back on one of the best denim manufacturers on earth, but you have to make it work… Otherwise, it’s just a bad call.

Our aim was to find a denim that had the outstanding qualities of Japan’s famed output, with a carbon footprint a fraction of the size. We soon realised that what we were looking for didn't exist…

That left us with two options :

Given it took two years, we’ll bet you can guess what we opted for.

You got it… We did it ourselves, thanks in no small part to the support of our partners at Candiani.

Never heard of it? Well, it's an Italian company that's been making jeans since 1938 and is now the world leader in eco-responsible denim. So now you know.

Candiani’s HQ is in the middle of the Ticino Valley Natural Park. This exceptional location has played a large part in the brand's DNA, to the point where eco-design has become a key element in Candiani's brand positioning.

Of course, that was music to our ears. So we asked them the big question for 2021: "Ciao ragazzi. We'd like to make a denim with the character and cachet of Japanese denim, here in Italy. È possibile? "

It was the big boss himself who gave us the answer: “Va bene".

That was 24 months ago.

It’s been two years of sourcing the organic cotton, working the fibres, tensioning the threads, adjusting the traditional looms, making up the dye using the latest technological innovations and tweaking the wash strategy: we tested, re-tested and re-re-tested everything to reach the Holy Grail.

In addition to the experts at Candiani, we put our product team, our stylist and even a textile engineer on the case. The mission was to capture the unique, characterful feel of Japanese denim, that distinctive rugged texture. When you see the results you’ll realise all the effort was well worth it.

Did we mention that Candiani has been making jeans for 85 years? Yes? Good, so you’ll know how wild it is that after all that time they told us this denim was one of the best they’ve ever made.

What makes this (and Japanese) denim stand out is the wonderful irregularities of the selvedge fabric, known in the trade as the 'slub'. Not a fetching word, but don't be fooled into thinking that it's a bad thing: it's precisely this controlled level of ‘imperfection’ that makes it highly prized stuff.

In fact, this grainy texture comes from a difference in thickness between the weft threads and a variation in tension at the time of weaving. The result’s a denim dream: each pair is unique, with a weave full of character that will develop a perfect patina over time.

Making a fabric like this in Europe is obviously a source of pride. But it doesn't stop there. Because in addition to developing this stuff, we did it in an ultra-eco-friendly way.

The truly amazing thing about Candiani is that they innovate year after year to produce the most eco-responsible denim available. They have a wealth of certifications, dozens of patents, they recycle the water, energy and waste generated by the manufacture of their products - in short, they have Research and Development in their blood.

In making this new denim we were able to benefit from some of the most technologically advanced innovations in the textile world:

• Kitotex®: a 100% natural bacteriostatic polymer that improves colour saturation after dyeing without polluting the water.
• Indigo Juice®: a process that fixes the indigo pigments perfectly, but only on the surface of the yarn, making it easier to wash out and saving much of the water, chemicals and energy usually needed to wash indigo.
• Sound Dye: This is Candiani's latest innovation in sustainable development. With this system, they use ultrasound to rinse the yarn, creating micro-bubbles that implode and produce shockwaves to remove excess loose indigo. With water savings of almost 30% in the dyeing process, this technology is revolutionary, saving two litres of water per linear metre of denim.

Want more? Candiani have developed transparency processes that are now used by the UN, they offer total traceability of their supply chain and they carry out internal audits every year. In short, they’re the best of the best if you love denim, and planet earth. It's a source of great pride to be able to work with such people.

Our new Ultimate Jeans are a perfect pairing of heritage and technology.

Rest assured, nothing has changed besides the fabric.

Everything else that you loved about the Ultimate Jeans is still in the mix, right where you expect it. A stunning patina that’ll become more beautiful with each wear, a meticulously studied cut and fit, impeccable Portuguese manufacture and all the finishing touches: brass rivets, zamak buttons, reinforcement bartacks, chain stitching at the hem.

The new, improved Ultimate Jeans are a fusion of old-fashioned quality and contemporary innovation, and they're available in four colours:

• A raw finish with serious depth.

• A rinsed denim: subtly faded, but still patina-ready.

• A stone wash: lighter in colour and undoubtedly the most versatile of all.

• A dazzling off-white that will brighten up any outfit.

So here we are. After years of hard work, we're finally launching our brand new Ultimate Jeans, the Candiani version.

It's a crazy achievement for us, but more than that, it's an opportunity for you to invest in a pair of jeans that's unique. No one else has ever made a fabric like this in Europe.

These Ultime Jeans are beautiful, made from 100% organic cotton, and in an eco-responsible way. Furthermore, they're traced from the raw materials to your doorstep, which is unheard of. Especially for 99€.

You can preorder yours here, now, all year round. Yes, gentlemen, you're looking at an item from our Eternal collection. But make no mistake: the sooner you preorder, the sooner you can get working on that patina.

Asphalte