Gold Gate Representative
Born in Tokyo in 1970. Admired by his seniors in his hometown and school, the first pair of jeans he bought as a student happened to be made by Wrangler, a brand designed in Japan. Even now, more than 30 years later, he is one of the world's leading Wrangler enthusiasts, and continues to have a mad love for the brand. He has also released a photo book, "Wrangler ARCHIVES," which is a compilation of his own vintage archives, which can be said to be the culmination of his journey, and has continued to share his love for the brand with the world by making the book a series and using social media.
Instagram: @wranglervintage
Although Wrangler is considered one of the so-called “big three denim brands,” not many details about the brand have been released so far, so let’s start by giving a brief recap.
Back in 1904, Hudson Overall Company was founded in Tennessee by CC Hudson and his brother, and changed its name to Blue Bell Overall Company in 1919. In 1943, the company acquired Casey Jones and made "Wrangler," one of the company's trademarks, function as an independent label within the company, eliminating the image of workwear associated with denim and starting to manufacture western and casual wear. Incidentally, Wrangler means "cowboy."
Rodeo Ben, a Hollywood custom tailor known at the time, was brought in to help with product planning, and the company released its first model, the 11MW, in 1947, which was packed with features tailored to the cowboy lifestyle.
Is there any problem with the above understanding?
Yes, that's true. However, I personally think that Rodeo Ben only started to participate in planning and designing the brand a few years after it was launched. I don't think he was involved yet with the denim pants with arcuate stitching, commonly known as the prototype, that is, the very early 11MW.
Among enthusiasts, it is said that M stands for men's and W stands for western, but what does 11 represent?
There are various theories, but I think it was most likely the weight of the denim used. The 11MW continued to be sold until the 1960s, when its successor, the 11MWZ, was released, and in the process, it was no longer 11 ounces. It was originally listed in ounces, but it gradually became a symbol, and eventually it was treated as just a model name and lot number.
I see. Unlike other major brands, those kinds of small changes and behind-the-scenes details are rarely talked about, and in fact, the number of products themselves is probably quite small, right?
Nowadays, even Levi's, commonly known as First, can easily cost several million yen, even 10 million yen, for T-backs or wartime models, but on the flip side, "anyone can get it if they have several million yen." On the other hand, Wrangler is not even available on the market. No matter how much you pay, you can't buy something that doesn't exist, and I think it is overwhelmingly superior in terms of rarity.
Was it this rarity that drew you to start collecting?
No, I have never thought of myself as a collector, and when I started buying jeans on purpose, no one paid any attention to them. Because they were not cool at all (laughs). I myself admired the 501®︎ worn by my seniors, and when I was in high school, I went to a local jeans shop to buy some denim pants. However, it was a small retail store in a town that had no connection to vintage, and it was also an authorized dealer of Wrangler. The first jeans I bought, recommended by the store staff, happened to be Wrangler.
Furthermore, in the movie "Rock and Roll Circus" that I watched later, John Lennon was wearing a denim jacket, 111MJ, and when I took a picture of it, cut out from a magazine, to the jeans shop mentioned earlier, I easily found the exact same one. While everyone around me was frantically searching through second-hand shops, I was able to find it right away. However, there was still something different about the atmosphere compared to those worn by my predecessors. In one word, the pants worn at the time were "not cool" (laughs). However, as I thought about what was different specifically, I gradually became obsessed with that sense of incongruity. Since then, regardless of whether I was wearing them or not, whenever I went to a second-hand shop, I would ask, "Do you have Wranglers?" and over the course of 30 years, I ended up collecting all of these.
Is there a particular model that sparked your passion?
I believe it was in 1997 that the domestic distributor at the time reproduced the 12MJZ, commonly known as the Champion Jacket, with the copyright embroidered on the back. From there, I learned more about Wrangler, which eventually led to vintage items.
Is it fair to say that the Champion Jacket is the pinnacle of vintage Wrangler gear?
Of course it is a symbol, but it is not necessarily rare. There are several types of Champion Jackets (I will introduce them later). The first type is the button front type, commonly known as the first, and the second type is the zipper front type. Behind these two types was the intention to spread awareness of cowboys by sponsoring rodeos held around the country at that time and by featuring the winners as advertising figures in flashers and catalogs. Of course, other brands have done the same thing, but it can be said that there has never been a brand that has been so close to the cowboy lifestyle as Wrangler. In fact, I hear that many vintage products tend to come from the central and southern United States, such as Texas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming, where the cowboy culture and lifestyle are deeply rooted.
To me, the Wrangler is already a part of the family.
Considering that the number of balls is extremely small and that they are concentrated in certain areas of the United States, you must have a lot of rivals, right?
I don't have any rivals (laughs). Because if someone has a product that I've never seen before, I simply want to see it in person. I think of my journey so far as three stages. First, like. I think I'm where I am today because I liked it more than anyone else. Then that feeling turned into love, which led to an expression of affection for the brand, wanting to contribute to it. And finally, family. Collectors and buyers often say to me, "This collection could be sold for 100 million yen in no time," but there's no one in the world who would sell their family, right? For me, Wrangler is already a part of the family, and to be honest, I don't care about the global price hike or asset value.
これはあくまで金丸さんの主観で構わないのですが、何年代まで、あるいはどのモデルまでをヴィンテージと位置づけるのでしょうか？
個人的には70年代までがギリギリ。でも、それはぼくの歳や経験からの位置づけなので80年代に入ってからのブロークンデニム（右綾と左綾を交互に織ったデニム地）仕様でも、いまとなっては十分ヴィンテージの範疇だと思うのです。実際ブロークンデニム仕様のアメリカ製となると、すでにユーズドでも数万円が相場のようですし、もし〈ラングラー〉に興味を持ってくれたなら、最初からスーパーヴィンテージに手を出すことなく、まずはその辺りをおすすめしたいですね。
The most unique thing about vintage Wranglers is that many of them were only provided to those involved as costumes or promotional items, and were never released to the general market. In other words, many of the rare models were not for sale from the beginning, and their rarity naturally led directly to market value. Therefore, experts are still working on them, and the outline of the collection is gradually coming into view, but Kanamaru says there is still a good chance that unseen color variations or irregular models will be found.
Although it is based on the 111MJ, commonly known as the First, it is an irregular model with the brand name embroidered on the back, just like the Champion Jacket. "There are several variations of the Champion Jacket, with the red 12MJZ given to the winner, the black 66MJZ given to the referee, and the beige 33MJZ given to the staff. We speculate that this 111MJ was probably produced in very limited numbers as a promotional item for authorized dealers."
Until the appearance of broken denim, left-hand twill was the norm for most models, and rolled seams were the norm for side stitching, as they were more durable. However, for some reason, this particular item has side seams with selvedge. "It's deadstock from 1964. Other items from the same year include the 10MW with right-hand twill selvedge and the 11MW with left-hand twill white selvedge, so we suspect this was an irregular specification that was only available that year."
The classic western-style denim shirt 27MW was released in 1952 and continued to be sold until the 1960s. A green denim version is thought to have debuted around the same time as the green color variation. "Apart from the green, red, sax, and hickory have already been confirmed. I believe each one had its own lot number, but that has yet to be confirmed at this stage."
With the copyright embroidered on the back, the blue bell patch on the left shoulder, the inner tag without size information, and the elbow patches on all four models, Kanamaru speculates that they were issued to the clowns who enlivened the rodeo competitions. "They also had the role of quickly sensing danger to the cowboys and controlling the situation, so they were actually expected to be tough. That's why I think the elbow patches were used on all the shirts."
The super-large denim pants, over 50 inches in size, were produced in limited quantities as a special edition for the clown costumes that would decorate the event. "They are the so-called clown pants that you can also see from other companies. The brand name is embroidered on the front, and Blue Bell company patches are sewn on both the front and back. The side seams are rolled like regular products, and the large deformed rivets are also unique."
