THE REAL McCOY’S Lot. S003 WWII Replica Jeans – Coming Soon

THE REAL McCOY’S is without a doubt among the best reproduction brands coming out of Japan. They’re notorious for their military outerwear replica, from the early A-1 leather flight jacket or the US Navy 13 Star Peacoat to the ’30s US Navy Parka or the WWII A-2 flight jacket and more. Fortunately for all of us, denim also occupies a particular spot in THE REAL McCOY’S’ catalogue.

We recently spoke to Kento Tsujimoto who told us that THE REAL McCOY’S were working on two new denim staples for F/W 2015: the Lot. S003 jeans and the Lot. 003J denim jacket. We had the chance to shoot them at the mind-blowing Harajuku THE REAL McCOY’S store, which, by the way, we strongly recommend all denimheads to add to their Japan denim pilgrimage. Here we’re going to talk about the Lot. S003 jeans but make sure to check in again soon as we’ll be posting about the Lot. 003J later.

DETAILS

  • Name: THE REAL McCOY’S Lot. S003
  • Fabric: 100% cotton Japanese selvedge denim
  • Weight: 14.3oz.
  • Fit: classic straight leg, close to Levi’s 1947 501 cut
  • Release date: coming soon
  • Price: ¥30,000 excluding taxes (around $290)
  • Availability abroad will depend on each store

FABRIC

Lot-S003-Fabric

Jeans have been around for more than a hundred years, and whether it was due to fabric related issues, technology innovation or trend changes, to list a few factors; there have been numerous variations in the way they were constructed and designed.

The pairs that were conceived during WWII particularly stand out because of the incredible amount of constraints under which they had to be made, as confirmed by Kento’s comment on the Lot. S003’s 14.3oz fabric:

We believe that the contracted denim brands used a heavier ounce fabric for military production. We think the reason for this was that brands would use heavier fabric for durability since many details were altered due to limitations on raw material (no coin pocket rivets, random buttons were used for the front fly, back pocket stitching was either painted or not done, etc.), and jeans were made as fast as possible instead of focusing on quality.

The-Real-McCoys-No-Coing-Pocket-Rivets

No coin pocket rivets.

Absence of back pocket stitching.

No Arcuate.

CONSTRUCTION

The perfection of imperfection

Thanks to an archive comprising, among other treasures, ten different pairs of vintage WWII jeans, THE REAL McCOY’S were able to replicate as accurately as possible the particularities of the jeans made throughout WWII. Kento continues,

Since denim [in WWII] was made prioritizing quantity over quality, the front fly and the pocket bags are unfinished. The denim fabric on the coin and back pockets is used horizontally, like some WWII jeans we have in our archive. Back pockets, pocket bags, waist band, and all details are stitched imperfectly on purpose, to replicate the construction methods during WWII.

Lot S003 Front

Lot-S003-Back

Custom produced details

THE REAL McCOY’S used custom produced iron buttons with rounded sockets on the front fly, custom produced iron rivet with copper finishing and finally custom produced herringbone twill olive drab fabric pocket bags.

Lot S003 Buttons

Lot S003 Herringbone Pocket Bags

FIT

They’re the perfect pair for all denimheads that are not too found of nowadays’ tight cuts: they allow more room around the thighs, and that’s precious when you’re active and you have thicker legs than the average hipster. The waist is tight enough to maintain the jeans in high waist position and make your ass look good- the ladies will appreciate.

Stay tuned for the article covering the Lot. 003J. Meanwhile, make sure to check THE REAL McCOY’S in Harajuku if you’re in Tokyo. Address: Tokyo-to Shibuya-ku Jingumae 6-25-8. All photos by Yuri Matsuoka.