Massdrop x Naked & Famous Ichiban Easy Guy Denim

Finding the perfect pair of jeans is no small task—but the Ichiban Easy Guy is here to make it easy. This pair features the same custom fabric as our debut Naked & Famous collaboration: 13.75-ounce sanforized selvage denim from the denim capital of the world, Okayama, Japan. It has a deep indigo color and a light slub, and because it’s rope dyed, it’ll fade faster into a unique pattern that reflects your use. Only this time, the jeans are cut in Naked & Famous’s most laid-back style. Fuller in the seat, hips, and thighs with a sharp taper from the knee to the hem, the Easy Guy makes for a more forgiving fit and a more comfortable break-in period. 

Before the denim is woven, it’s rope-dyed: a process that involves repeatedly dipping a rope of cotton yarn into a series of indigo dye baths. Between dips, the yarn is exposed to the air and the absorbed indigo slowly oxidizes, turning the yarn blue. Because the yarn is never left in the bath long enough for the dye to penetrate to the core of the yarn, the outer circumference is dyed while the core remains white. With wash and wear, the denim will gradually shed layers of dye and slowly reveal the white core underneath. Combined with the weaving process, which happens on a traditional shuttle loom, this makes for an extraordinary depth of color and a handmade feel that can’t be mass-produced. 

Once the denim is ready, it makes its way from Okayama to the Naked & Famous factory in Montreal, where it’s cut and sewn into the finished pair of jeans you see here. Each pair is complete with a four-button fly, Kentucky-made YKK hardware, and a vegetable-tanned leather patch that’ll darken and develop an aged look as it’s exposed to the sun. The patch features the company’s 1950s pop art–inspired logo.