About TCB JEANS

Roots and Story of TCB

TCBJEANSのルーツは、代表・井上が野球漬けの小・中学生時代に出合ったメジャーリーグ。センターバックに放たれたホームランを見た時目に止まった400という数字に、「アメリカ人は400Mのホームランを打つんだ！」と感動し（実は400フィートで約122Mだったと後でわかるのだが）、いつしかアメリカ自体に強い憧れを抱くように。ある日、ファッション雑誌で見かけたジーンズに魅了され、アメリカを中心としたデニムカルチャーに傾倒していく。雑誌に載った１本のジーンズ。その衝撃の出合いがデニムに目覚めさせ、今のTCBJEANSブランドの原点にもなっている。その時の雑誌は、今でも大切に保管されている。

One of the roots of TCB JEANS is the Major League whicm Hajime Inoue, the founder/owner of TCB, met back when he was still in junior high school. He still remebers when he first saw a huge home-run to the centre-back, the signboard saying 400!, which he was super impressed, thinking American slamming a home run by 400 meters. Later did he realize it was 400ft, though. But ever since then the young Hajime boy started to have a longing for the American culture. a pair of jeans on a fashion magazin brought the first contact with denim for him, which is still the starting point of TCB jeans. The magazin is still kept safely at TCB factory today.

「将来は服に関わる仕事がしたい」と考え、18歳の頃に地元広島を離れて大阪のアメカジショップの店員として働き始める。接客をしていく中で、ふと手に取ったデニムがどこでどんな風に作られているのか知りたいと思い、いつしか「売る側」ではなく「作る側」へと興味はふくらんでいった。20歳の時にデニム職人を志し、国産ジーンズの聖地・岡山県の児島にあてもなく移住する。

When he was 18 years old, he left his hometown, Hiroshima, vaguely having in mind that he would want to work in the fashion industry, then finding a job at Amekaji shop in Osaka. Spending some time doing customer support, he gradually felt a feeling growing in his mind: Where and how are these jeans made and by who? This had kept growing bigger and bigger and as he realized he was about to make a first step to shift to the making side from the selling side. when he turned to 20, he left for Kojima without any plans, the sacred place for the famous Japanese denim.

最初は縫製工場に就職し、縫製作業を中心としたデニム製作の基礎を学ぶ。その後デニムの企画を手掛ける会社へ転職。ここでは受注から納品までのアパレルの流通のすべてを経験し、児島のデニム業界の人との交流を高めた。かつて雑誌で見て衝撃を受けたあのジーンズも「Made in KOJIMA」だったことから、児島には不思議な縁を感じている。

After a short span of time, he successfully found a job at a sewing factory where he learnt the fundermental knowledge as to how to make jeans and then he moved to another company which mainly did denim-related project with other brands. At this company, he experience the business flow in the fashion industry from A to Z, which also helped him establish some connections in Kojima fashion industry. The JEANS which stunned young Hajime boy back then was also made in Kojima so he feels some bonding with this place.

縫製の仕事に立ち返るべく、27歳の時に「TCB」の社名で縫製工場を設立。自宅を作業場としてミシン10台がひしめき合う中、たった一人で縫製作業の全てを担当。その後、共感してくれる仲間ができ、依頼も徐々に増えたことからスタッフを増員し、作業場や設備などの環境面も整えはじめる。社名の「TCB」には2通りの意味があり、一つは「Taking care of business」。この言葉は、1960年～70年代のアメリカ映画でスラングとしてよく使われていて、「仕事を大事にする／おまかせください」というような意味合いを持つ。もう一つはブランドの立ち上げ時に猫を2匹飼っていたことから「Two Cats Brand」。2匹の猫はマスコット的な存在で、ラベルなどでもモデルとして登場している。

Having experienced some different aspects of the fashion industry, what he really wanted to do was to sew and make jeans so he started his own business as a sewing factory with the company name, TCB, when he was 27 years old. Back then, his apartment was his workplace filled with more than 10 sewing machines, of course one-man-show at the beginning stage of TCB. His business slowly but steadily grew, bringing many opportunities to meet people with the minds of the same kind. TCB staffs increased and he started to invest on the machinery and the facility. The name of the company, TCB, has two meanings. One is “Taking Care of Business” and the other one is “Two Cats Brand”. When he first started the business, he had two cats. Simple as that! You can still find these two cats on the patch of TCB products.

2011年に現在の工場に移転。当時は、他社製品を扱うOEM生産の会社として稼働し、作る楽しさを実感する一方で、オリジナルのものづくりへの葛藤を抱えていた。
そんな中、2012年に児島で開催された「デニムフェスティバル」への出店依頼を受けてTCB初の自社商品を生産することに。その時作ったのが、TCB50シリーズの前身となるコーンミルズで作ったジーンズ。この記念すべきファーストプロダクトを機に、「TCB」がつくるジーンズとしてのオリジナルブランド「TCBJEANS」が誕生。自分たちが本当に作りたい商品だけを作る「MADE BY TCB」のものづくりがスタートした。

In 2011, he moved the factory to where we have TCB today. TCB mainly did the OEM project for other brands at the initial stage, Hajime enjoying it but at the same time yearning somewhere in his heart, I WANT TO MAKE MY OWN JEANS!
A good tide came to him in 2012. TCB received an invitation from Denim Festival held in Kojima, asked for TCB Original jeans. After much contemplation with the founding members of TCB, he decided to make jeans made of the Cone Mills Fabric, which had formed the early ver of TCB 50’s jeans. This memorial jeans was our first step to make our own jeans made by TCB. From there, With the concept that we make what we really want to make, TCB craftsmanship started there.

SNSが一般に定着化してきた頃、TCBJEANSは海外のデニムファンから注目を集めるように。アメリカで人気のWEBサイト「superfuture」でTCB Jeansの情報がシェアされ、海外での知名度が高まっていった。ブランドとしてもWEBサイトやSNSの更新を積極的に行い、写真や動画でブランドの世界感を発信。作り手を前面に出し、メイキングを見せるというブランディングに反応してくれる人も多く、海外のメーカーが視察に訪れはじめる。2015年には、日本のブランドを紹介するアメリカのドキュメンタリー映画「Weaving Shibusa」の中で、TCBJEANSが紹介される。

When SNS started to be familiar with the world, people outside Japan started to have interest with TCB. The popularity of TCB boomed when some TCB threads on Superfuture popped up here and there, resulting in acquiring more overseas fans of TCB. As a brand, he also paid much effort to spread the TCB style to the world, using SNS with photos taken by Hajime himself. He always wants to show where your jeans are made and who makes your jeans, which a lot of people liked. As a result of that, many denim influencers, fashion directors started to visit TCB. In 2015, TCB was introduced in an american documentary film, Weaving Shibusa.

見学しやすいオープンな制作現場を目指し、2018年秋には工場をリノベーション。１階には縫製工場、２階にはショップ機能を持つショールームが新たに設け、TCBJEANSというブランドそのものを感じられる空間が完成した。好きなもの、やりたいこと、自分たちが本当に作りたいこと。その気持ちに忠実であり続けるTCBJEANS。「職人が0から商品を生み出している場所とお客さんを直接繋げる」という信念のもと、児島でしかできない「made by TCB」の純粋なものづくりを伝えていきたいと考えている。

He renovated the factory in 2018 to make our place more accessible for anyone, offering free factory tour. On the 1st floor, we have our factory where we cut the fabric and sew the jeans, and on the 2nd floor we have our showroom/factory shop where people can feel the entire atmosphere of TCB as a brand. What we like, what we want to do, and what we really want to make. TCB is always truthful to this said idea and that’s TCB JEANS. With the belief that we can create the bridge to connect our customers to where craftmans and artisans make products from scratch, we keep making your jeans made by TCB for good.

Behind the scenes of TCBTCBの裏側

3F Cutting/Storage

TCBは縫製工場ということで、生産の工程の順序に併せて工場の裏側をご紹介します。まず、3Fで縫製をスタートする前に生地の裁断を行うスペースとなっています。

As TCB had been established as a sewing factory, weʼd like to show you the back stages of TCB in the order of the production procedure. Our 3rd ﬂoor is where we cut the fabric before the sewing. The dumbbells are not for the training but functions as a paper weight.

1F Factory

切られた生地はその後、1Fに降ろされ、平ミシン、巻き縫いミシン、帯付けミシン、裾縫いミシンと1950~60年代に使われていた当時の機械が使われ、ジーンズとして形になっていきます。アイロン掛けなど最終の仕上げも含めて、1Fで生地から製品と生まれ変わります。縫製にはリズムも大切です。

After the fabric cutting, the pieces of fabrics go to our ﬁrst ﬂoor where we sew them into the jeans, using the vintage sewing machines from the 50ʼs and the 60ʼs. Various type of machines are used, depending which part to sew. In addition, ironing and threads picking also takes place on the ﬁrst ﬂoor, which is where the fabrics are transforming to TCB products. Rhythms are the key for the jean sewing.

2F Store/Office

1Fでの縫製が終われば、商品は2FのShop/Showroomスペースに上げられ、TCBの製品をお買い上げ頂けます。店内の什器や雑貨からも、TCBらしさを感じていただける場所にしています。

After the production, the garments are lifted up to our 2nd ﬂoor on our shop/showroom space where you can see all TCB lines. All the furniture are selected with so many cat-motif knickknacks by TCBʼs paws.

We make your jeans.

We are proud of TCB and ourselves as a jeanmaker. This is where we make your jeans everyday.

Spirits of TCB

TCB Jeans Movie

Roots and Story of TCB

Behind the scenes of TCBTCBの裏側