Why don’t the discussions about the 501 line up?
Good evening. I’m Matsushima from cantáte.
Today, I won’t be discussing details.
For details, see “How to Look at Jeans—What No One Will Teach You,”
For sizing guidance on anything other than the new Denim Straight Trousers, please see Which fit? Which size? A thorough comparison.
Perhaps because of my profession, I sometimes talk about the 501 with people.
But honestly,
That time has never ended particularly pleasantly.
“In the end, 501 is the best, right?”
“The 501 from that era is the best.”
“No, the earlier ones are better.”
Everyone is utterly confident.
but when I listen to them, it doesn’t feel like they’re talking about the same pair of jeans.
Strangely, that 501 belongs to no one,
No photograph or actual garment ever appears.
It exists only in people’s minds.
and on top of that, its appearance changes little by little every time it’s discussed.
How should I put it,
It feels like being told about a cute girl no one has ever seen.is close to
I hear people say they’re cute, but exactly what is cute about them, and how,
they’re a little different every time.
When you think about it,
I think that’s only natural.
The 501 is, in fact, a pair of jeans that no one has ever seen “the same way.”That’s why.
The 501s that remain as vintage pieces have already passed through someone’s body,
what it looks like after taking on someone’s time.
Meanwhile, a new 501 is made
is made according to an entirely different logic.
In other words, the 501 everyone talks about
None of them are the actual garment.
An image blending memory, ideals, and longingIt is.
That’s why its appearance changes little by little each time it’s discussed.
There is one more decisive reason.
The 501 was never, to begin with, a garment made for talking about its shape.
Making your legs look better, making your figure look better,
That kind of thinking came later.
What was needed was
That you could squat in them.
That they wouldn’t tear.
The ability to produce them quickly and in large quantities.
That’s all.
And yet now, we
We end up layering our ideal image of the silhouette onto it.
At this point, they no longer line up.
That is why
Conversations about the 501 are always slightly out of sync.
The image of where they sit on the waist. Memories of their width.
The imprint of fading. Afterimages from films and photographs.
Depending on what you grew up seeing,
The 501 in your mind becomes someone else.
and calling them by the same name, “501.”
Well,
That’s why the conversation gets blurred.
Here,
A somewhat rough conclusion.We’ll get to that.
In that case,
Then let’s make that “501 no one has ever seen.”
If it exists only in everyone’s mind,
Let’s drag it out into reality, just once.
That is what we thought.
What cantáte is trying to do is
nor is this a reproduction of vintage.
We do not try to identify the era,
XX this or paper patches,
Nor do we talk about things like that.
What we are doing is
To organize the 501 in one’s mind as a structure, just once.
Where should the waist sit to feel reassuring?
At what point does a width begin to look wide?
How far does “straight” extend?
Not dimensions.
It is a matter of sight and sensation.
People do not view trousers as a set of measurements.
The line continuing from beneath the hips.
The flow of the line.
The way it falls from below the seat to the knee.
The angle from the knee to the hem.
The movement as you walk.
That is why
Even looking at the same 501,
some people call the same pair “slim” and others “wide.”
That is why
A larger 517
there are moments when it looks almost straight.
Rather than whether it is flared,
How the line continues.
People remember denim together with that illusion.
Here,
the three shapes prepared by cantáteabout the 501,
Let’s get a little more specific.
none of these is “the right pair of jeans.”
nothing more than
when people hear the word 501,
The image that comes to mind,
Shapes each distilled from a different perspective.
<cantáte>
”Denim Straight Trousers”
COL : INDIGO
SIZE : 26, 28, 30, 32, 34
¥49,500 TAX IN
Size : 32 inch
Size : 34 inch
First.
An ideal 501 cut that could never exist.
This one
The 501 that someone has imagined in their mind at least once.
Strangely settled when worn at the waist.
Wide without looking unfashionable.
Relaxed without looking sloppy.
But,
before this shape, as a physical garment, had ever existed.It is.
The 501 of that era was put into production
They were sent straight onto the production floor.
Shrinkage rates were not consistent.
Body types were not taken into account.
Sizing was rough, with considerable variation between individual pieces.
that is why this cut is not a reproduction of vintage.
ignoring all the constraints of that era,
“If we were to build the idea of the 501 from scratch today,”
lines redrawn on the assumption that
While retaining the reassuring feel of the 501,
yet somehow feels too convenient.
precisely because it never existed,
The image that has been talked about for so long
A shape brought down to earthIt is.
<cantáte>
”Denim Tapered Trousers”
COL : INDIGO
SIZE : 26, 28, 30, 32, 34
¥49,500 TAX IN
Size : 32 inch
Size : 34 inch
The second.
tapered.
when talking about the 501,
It rarely gets put into words, but
It is a shape that many people instinctively seek.
I like them wide.
But I don’t want them to look heavy.
I want the line to end cleanly over my shoes.
While admiring the 501,
That experience of feeling, somewhere along the way, that they were “a little difficult to wear.”
This shape is the result of acknowledging that sense of incongruity rather than dismissing it.
A tapered leg with the hem width that sits most naturally
Tapering is not a shape intended simply to make trousers slimmer.
Where should the eye be drawn?
Where to bring the lines together.
As a result of that adjustment,
It only appears that way.
In fact, this balance
The shape closest to a vintage 501It is also.
While retaining the memory of the 501,
A pair brought closer to everyday wear.
<cantáte>
”Denim Flare Trousers”
COL : INDIGO
SIZE : 26, 28, 30, 32, 34
¥49,500 TAX IN
Size : 32 inch
Size : 34 inch
The third.
A flare based on the 517.
This cut is the most,
The words and appearance may not line up.
When you hear “flare,”
Flared, flashy, distinctive.
That image comes first.
But,
A 517 sized up
When worn with the waist positioned high and a deep rise,
A completely different phenomenonIt happens.
Even though the hem is certainly flared,
The legsLooks almost straight.
This one
This is not a discussion of design, but entirely about visual perception.It is.
A hem that falls with a distinctly flared shape
People
You are not looking at the leg opening.
The line continuing from beneath the hips.
What you are looking at is
How far the line continues without breaking.
Though flared, it looks straight.
Hidden behind the name 517
Another image,
Are forms deliberately brought to the surface.
These three
They are not matters of superiority or ranking.
However,
When they use the word 501
The image people have in mind
In fact, it is not just one thing.That is all.
Someone who seeks a sense of security.
Someone who seeks beautiful lines.
Someone who finds coolness in the illusion.
cantáte is,
We did not force that discrepancy into a single answer.
In that case, we should simply place all three side by side from the outset.
That is what we thought.
The discussion of how to recognize good denim,
It has already been done enough.
But,
Why does this shape feel right to me?
There are surprisingly few discussions that dig that deeply.
The 501,
It is not a completed masterpiece.
In everyone’s mind,
It is an unfinished piece that continues to change shape even now.
In that case,
That work in progress,
To present it properly as clothing.
I believe that, too, is a form of sincerity.
”Denim Straight Trousers”
Size : 34 inch
When worn with Rios, the hem catches perfectly on the heel—perfection.
If you ever talk about the 501 next,
Rather than the other person’s words,
What kind of figure they have in mind as they speak
Please imagine it.
We applied starch to a brand-new T-back in size 00.
Perhaps,
In that person’s own way,
**“A cute girl you’ve never seen before”**
we are simply doing our best to explain it.
And,
That is enough.
At cliché,
but jeans that have made that image a reality are here.
Not to compare answers,
For the sake of aligning our perspectives.
cantáte Matsushima Shin
