Glory Threads - How Did You Find Iron Heart?
-
“you won’t be satisfied until you wear Iron Heart”
This is really my entire experience of IH….I am going to openly steal this.
-
I wonder if we can find any screenshots of ironheart.co.uk 1.0 for posterity…
We can….
https://www.ironheart.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=11115.msg536354#msg536354
-
wow. i remember back in 2010 or so..
i started being into raw denim. there was this store that newly opened, the denim store. (which is also where i met my wife, now ex) they stocked a few japanese denim (pbj, sugarcanes) from what i remember. and they also had cheap mondays and nudie jeans. so i started out with cheap monday's with much persuasion from her…
fast forward 6 months, i've been doing some digging all along on the internet. back then i was mostly a superfuture guy. with the exception of indigoroots (now defunct) ran by some guys from singapore. I was on a trip in hk for a holiday with the family and i made sure i had to check out Take5. i was absolutely fazed by samurai back then, their 24oz, heavy denim. i remember seeing noragi-san as this mad dude with a whack attitude, pretty cool if you asked me. on that trip, i made my first foray into japanese denim with a Samurai 710 19oz. mind you, my experience with japanese denim, was through a lot of caressing of the denim whenever i'm down at the denim store.
also around that year, i met 2 blokes. johnny and james. back then, they were running a leather workshop out of this little shophouse. many conversations and iced teas we became good friends. i think, IIRC, back in those days james was still stationed in france and had contact with giles.
on indigoroots forum, i was always the 'samurai guy'. i had a couple pairs by then, absolutely loved them and i taking the piss with a few blokes, Ronald, max (flo) and b_F (tilmann). ronald and flo extensively wore IH and tilmann, was into samurai a lot. he even had this samurai jeans guide on sufu. so i remember saying somewhere "if you get a pair of samurai, i'll get a pair of IHs."
i remember stalking SE's website like an eagle, looking at the 301s cut because i was a crazy skinny fit dude back in the day. then fast forward a few years, OGL expanded into a retail store and stocked IH. i rocked up to the first event at the kandarhar lane store dressed fully in samurai. (what a dick) i know.. and i'd believe on the second meet up as well, which paula might have came along.. by then i'd probably had a couple of tee from IH. even few years down the road, i was in PBJ, mostly because of the HWDC2 and i don't even remember when i came onto IH forum.. but my first pair of IH jeans was the 666-21/23oz UHR that i wore for the DWC.
by then, i would have amassed about 10 or so tees, got the denim jeans, then got hooked to the shirts and jackets as well... pretty much shot up in the amount of items i had in the past 5 years i'd say. i'd love the 666 cut so well i had to get the 25oz as well, which i picked up at the kanreki..
-
I think, IIRC, back in those days james was still stationed in france and had contact with giles.
Correct. The first time I met James was when he came over to Gosport from France to discuss the possibility of stocking Iron Heart in their new store….We agreed and I have never regretted the decision, @Johnny and James are two of our favourite people in the world….
-
For Me it was first finding MY Nudies on the web. First jeans were nudie then it was Skull 5010 jeans. Always saw Iron Heart. But they wanted a lot of money for one pair of jeans. So it took some time to buy My first pair ( 301s ) from Self edge in NYC. Now have a lot of IH jeans & shirts.
-
We agreed and I have never regretted the decision, @Johnny and James are two of our favourite people in the world….
they're brilliant lads. we were sitting down one time and can't believe how long it's been..
-
@Giles do you and H have someone to pass the torch down to when you're days with IH are through? I don't mean to sound morbid and I know it won't be necessary for years to come, but It's obviously something that will happen at one point. This is such a great brand with two great bosses and it needs to live on when that day comes. I would assume Alex would the choice for IHUK but does H have a protege lined up?
-
@Alex is the IHUK succession plan, and Haraki is over the moon about that. He's been badgering me for years to get Alex involved.
Haraki is still struggling a little bit with what to do. He has really pulled away a lot from the day to day running of the more mundane parts of the business. Tom san is now responsible for IHUK and even has a helper san, Tom has also made an investment of her own money into IHUSA. Jiro san looks after all Japanese domestic business. But I suspect that H does not see this as the final solution. He did ask me a few years back, if I would take over and run IHJP, but that was simply impossible before we got Alex on board, but we may initiate that discussion again….
-
I think I've posted this story somewhere before so I'll keep it short. Back in the day when $150 for jeans and $80 for a shirt was on the high side for me I discovered Self Edge while looking for some mens retailers online that were a little less mainstream. I loved just about every piece from every brand they carried but couldn't stomach the price. I didn't have the luxury of seeing the goods in person so it took the slow, nagging curiosity of wondering why this shirt (the Johnny Cash) cost over $300. At least 6 months later I finally said, "F it. I'm rolling the dice and seeing whats so good about IH." Next thing you know I can't recommend the brand enough to people.
Awhile back some friends of mine and I were having a conversation about items that in our opinion are just way better than any other similar items made by another brand. This covered literally everything, not just clothes. The only thing I could think of that in my opinion is just way better than what any other brand makes is an IH flannel.
-
Awhile back some friends of mine and I were having a conversation about items that in our opinion are just way better than any other similar items made by another brand. This covered literally everything, not just clothes. The only thing I could think of that in my opinion is just way better than what any other brand makes is an IH flannel.
Agreed. I own quite a few flannels but when it comes to warmth there's no topping IH. I sweat in my UHF's if it gets above 30 but holy hell they're warm as shit was it hits 0 or subzero temps.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk
-
I tinkered with other brands but finally it came to…
Who makes the best jeans? Iron Heart (mainly my baby the 888)
Who makes the best flannels? No contest, Iron Heart
Who makes the best winter coat? Errrrrr..... Iron Heart
Who makes the best denim work shirt? Iron Heart
Who makes the best hoodies?
SupremeIron HeartI think i’ve found my brand
-
@der Anschiss Good stuff and an interesting story. Thanks for sharing.
-
It's so fascinating to read everyone's stories. I wish that I could remember exactly what led me to Iron Heart. I know that it was c. 2009 or so. I think that I had just started making belts and other products out of recycled fire hose, and during my explorations of that material, I started wondering if anyone had ever sewn pants or jeans out of really heavy fabric. I'm pretty sure that I just googled it, and ran across IHUK v. 1.0. I was loath to purchase such expensive clothing, but I was fascinated by it. The same google sesh led me to read a profile of Kiya from the SF Chronicle, that talked about Japanese denim. I had never even known that the denim scene existed, much less that SESF was so close to my house at the time.
Fast forward a couple weeks or so after I had obsessed over the websites long enough, and I dragged my girlfriend at the time down to Self Edge to ogle some jeans. From the second I touched them, I knew that the Iron Hearts were the ones I had to try. I convinced myself that black jeans were the only hole in my wardrobe that needed filling, so I ended up with a great fit on some super black 9301s. They were sooo heavy and thick and hardcore, felt like armor. I grabbed a Strike Gold belt on that same visit, because I was positive that none of my belts were going to be up to the task. I remember the guy who was incredibly helpful and patient with me at Self Edge trying to lure me into going upstairs to check out the shirts and jackets, but I somehow sensed that was a mortal danger to my wallet.
After a couple of weeks in the super blacks, I found a pair of almost unworn 634s on ebay, with the old pre-lawsuit arcs. I remember taking those out of the envelope when they arrived in the mail, and almost dancing a little jig over how soft and comfy the 21oz. was compared to the superblack. I wore the crap out of both of those pairs, and grabbed some overdyed SE007 not long after.
Fast forward again to a few years later, when I moved to Mexico in 2012. I was a little isolated, and definitely lonely in Mexico City, with no friends except my wife, and her family, so I started hanging around in the forum. My first purchase from IHUK was some 705 cargoes that were on special. They were a bit too big, but that 23oz. serge is such an amazing fabric. Soon thereafter, I went for my first IH flannel, the purple 101. For reasons that are probably obvious to all of you, after that I was more than hooked, and have gone a bit overboard, upping the collection, ever since.
The quality and simplicity of Iron Heart clothing really speaks to me, but I have to say the main reason why I've really gravitated to the brand is the forum. Having ready access to a community of people from all over the world who also are into the brand, as well as feeling like I really know (and appreciate) how the business is run, makes it special.
-
Absolutely loved reading that @sabergirl . Got me all emo in fact.
-
Wonderful writeup @sabergirl ! Loved the emotions you convey and the intense self-awareness throughout your descriptions. Very cool. Thanks.
-
My journey began when I started researching boots.
Back in 2009, I got a gorgeous pair of Frye boots online, and they didn’t fit me when they arrived. I have pretty big feet, and both feet are different sizes slightly, and they’re a little wide, and they have very high arches. Shoes for me had never been comfortable because they were always ill-fitting in some regard, and I what I really needed was something that I wasn’t going to find on the shelves. I started researching custom boots, and their construction, and boot making materials (i.e. steel shanks, stacked heels, etc.) and came across Wesco. The thought of spending $800 on a pair of boots that I’ve never seen in person was a big pill to swallow, but when I thought about all of the ill-fitting shoes I’ve purchased over the years, it started to make sense. I started the process for my custom Boss boots (still my favorite pair of boots) and it was all downhill from there. Also, since then, I’ve tried some other boot makers, and Wesco stands head and shoulders above the competition.I started to become obsessed with quality and began looking at everything around me differently. Why on earth would I want to spend money on something that I’d only be replacing a couple years later? This led to me researching the crap out of every purchase I would later make, and also led to my ultimate foray into leatherworking. One of the things I discovered was the selvedge denim community, and I kept seeing the name Iron Heart popping up. I’m never been big on wearing clothing with big logos or things that appeared trendy and I’ve always been into things that are understated and classic. Classics always look good, and if you combine something that’s both classic looking and well made, you’ve got yourself something that can be with you throughout a big portion of your journey through life. Iron Heart had this look, and once I began researching, it appeared that the quality was on the level that I was looking for as well. Combined with incredible customer service, and you’ve got yourself a real winner of a company. In the restaurant business we have a saying “You go for the food, but come back for the service,” and that’s absolutely true about Iron Heart. The fact that they go the extra mile to provide measurements for every little thing, send you personal emails to verify your size (and part of this is to avoid hassle on both sides as well as expense, but it still comes across as a genuine interest in customer service), and going the extra mile to say “Hey, I know you’re not totally sure about your size and you want to get it right, so we’ll send you BOTH sizes and let you figure it out. Send the one back that you don’t want with this prepaid shipping label.” And oh by the way, this is the service I got serving on an aircraft carrier in the middle of the Arabian Gulf. Knowing the people that run the business is another layer of customer service that’s impossible to quantify, but it makes a huge difference.
-
My Story is not that intresting, I started getting Into "Raw" Denim around 5 Years ago when again a Designer Jeans passed to fast on me so I bought a Pair of Nudies (that seems to be a Pattern here). The Nudies where Grim Tim Dry, after I wore them to Pieces (I still own them I have to post a Picture soon the Fades are insane) I bought myself a Tellason Ladbroke Grove 16oz but I couldn´t find a decent Denim Shirt at the "Normal" Stores. The search went on an on until I found Vater & Sohn and spotted the IHSH-132 on their Website which I then checked out at their Store, I loved the Fabric and the Details Right away and bought the at that Point most expensive Shirt ever 2 Years ago. After that I bought more Iron Heart Tops and last Year finally my first IH Pant, the V&S 777 SBG.
-
I'm not entirely sure where to begin but I'd prefer to gloss over the the middle school JNCO phase…
While in college, I stumbled across SuFu and Styleforum around 2005ish. Being a flat broke college student, I didn't have many luxuries but I sprung for a pair of Nudie Regular Ralfs and wore them non-stop for about 2 years until they completely blew out. I went through a number of pairs of denim that were never quite right and didn't fit the way I wanted. Then, in 2007, I bought a pair of 634S off of a well known member of Styleforum. I was working in my current field at that time and making decent money so I was constantly purchasing different denim and trying other fits and Japanese brands and I kept coming back to IH. I lurked on the IH forum for about a year but joined to message a member about buying a pair of IH301's and that just fueled my obsession. I bought a few IH shirts secondhand and things just spiraled out of control from there. If I remember correctly, my first IH shirt was an IHSH-23 in red and that's when I knew I was truly hooked. Fast forward a few years and I feel like I've gotten most all of my grail IH items I could ever want. I'm just enjoying the ride now, trying to control my urges not to buy items that won't get the love and wear they deserve.
-
Great stories everyone. Keep them coming.
Interesting to see the common threads that pretty much run through all of our stories.
Edit: no pun intended.
