Sunday, April 09, 2006

Japanese Filson


Ok. One of my primary obsessions at the moment is the hunt for Filson (and other waxed or woolen outdoor) items manufactured for the Japanese market (specifically--garments marketed to fashion forward Tokyo teens and gentleman flyfishers who doll themselves up in a full cruiser suit for a day on the trout stream). I've tracked down a number of sites selling Filson branded wares available to Japanese customers only. Filson reps refuse to offer these items for sale in US or make their own garments available in sizes smaller than a men's small (chest size 38). I'm not looking for "Lodge collection" sanded khakis or microfibre windbreakers--but rather, scaled down versions of classic Filson styles, for example, stylish safari jackets (see example), whipcord cruisers and/or some of the newer designs popping up on some of the Japanese pages which include clever modern stylistic details (see illustration). If you know of any sources for these garments (Japanese sites tend to restrict sales to Japanese customers) or know of an insider in the Filson company whom we could persuade to manufacture these items (or smuggle them out to us via a backdoor dumpster)--let me know. And please forward along your own spy shots of cool Japanese waxed cotton or woolen wear. More documentation to follow.

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