Summer is hot. Well, of course, but I feel like it’s getting hotter by each year.

I looked up the highest temperature of July of 2006 and it was 36.1°C/96°F. The highest temperature of last year in July was 36.4°C/97°F.

There weren’t that much of difference after all, but I gotta sat that it didn’t feel this hot when I would enjoy the summer as a young kid. Could this be just a magic caused by nostalgia, or is it that I’m getting old? The old man Kaneko, who’s become extremely weak towards the heat was thinking of an idea…

An idea of clothes that I can work comfortably in the summer.

I work in pants most of the time, even when it’s summer. I could just go with the Motion Pants, change to the Bike Pants when my shift starts or just work in shorts. I really love the shorts we made in collaboration with Pilgrim Surf Supply.

Honestly speaking, I could make it through summer with the current clothes I currently have, but I couldn’t stop imagining a good summer gear.

I am very happy to introduce you to my new project. Kaisei says that the clothes we made are too avant-garde for clothes from a bike shop, so I’m a bit anxious. But we’ve already made these so whatever!

BREEZE PANTS＆BREEZE JACKET

We’ve made easy pants that are made from soft nylon material and mesh fabric and a full mesh jacket (can you even count this as a jacket?)

Those days where I would wear and cuff the Dickies pants in the steaming hot mid summer, the time I forgot to bring a pair of pants and got stabbed by a needle working in shorts, the mosquitos constantly bitting my legs and those times I felt a bit embarrassed of my weirdly tanned skin at fancy restaurants…

I actually think this might be the kind of clothes that can help relieve those super small, slightly bittersweet stresses of life.

Again, I’m not sure if I could call this a jacket, but it protects you from direct sunlight and keep bugs away from your skin.

I named it the BREEZE JACKET.

As you could tell by the photos, they are fully made of mesh fabric. It may look crazy and most people probably can’t imagine themselves wearing these, so here are some styling samples.

This jacket was made with every simple things that I wanted to find solutions to, such as the heat, sweat, sunlight and bugs, but I also wanted something that looks cool.

The soft, lightly brushed mesh fabric has a casual, everyday look that doesn’t really remind you of sports or technical gear. Despite its appearance, it’s packed with technology and offers excellent moisture-wicking and quick-drying properties.

It’s not a UV-protective fabric, but it’s better than bare skin. It provides at least some protection from the sun (Apparently, polyester has the ability to absorb UV rays.)

When wearing it over a t-shirt or a tank top, you could see through, but I think it oddly gives a sense of cleanliness and a futuristic vibe.

Most of the details were inspired by classic coaches jackets, but they have some cool features like drawstrings in the hem and double zippers.

It turned out to be one of those jackets that you’d probably wear it frequently if you have it.

Next up is the BREEZE PANTS, which was the main focus on this project.

Based on my past experience working as a construction and janitor, as well as my current job as a bike mechanic, this product seems to offer one possible answer to the question: “Can’t work pants evolve in some way?”

These are my favorite pair of pants. I bought it at Kiraku, a vintage shop owned by a friend of mine. They are weird easy pants that has cool color patterns.

The cut is terrible, and both the fit and the pocket placement are not great, but they’re my favorite vintage pants.

The idea that formed as I kept wearing those pants in my daily life became the core concept for this piece. The seam dividing the pants into three sections, top, middle, and bottom was the inspiration.

I thought that we could make pants that are durable around the hip, knees and soft in the other areas. As you can see, the pants feature tough nylon material from the hip to the knee and mesh fabric from the knees and under.

On the back, however, the butt area is made of nylon, while the area from just above the knees to the ankles is made of mesh fabric.

We’ve made pants that protects all areas that are prone to wear and tear when you crouch down on your knees, sit briefly, lean against something, or do any kind of work, while making them breathable by making the knee down, mesh and the calf area, mesh.

 

The pants are made with the same mesh fabric as the jackets and lightweight, strong ripstop nylon fabric recycled from textile waste. Its matte finish, which doesn’t feel like typical nylon, makes it ideal for workwear.

I REALLY focused on making extremely breathable pants.

This is a sample where we made the top part in mesh. I thought that it’d be fine if we double layered the mesh fabric, but my undies were clearly visible to other people, so we trashed the idea. They were very comfy though.

I wanted pants that feel nice to wear in the summer in the first place, so I came up with this idea.

A ventilation slit that goes down from the thighs to the knees.

Yes, they are see through from certain angles, but I think it’s not too bad. In fact, we shot a lot of shots moving around, but none of them bothered us.

But, if you feel anxious, I recommend wearing inner shorts or swim trunks under them.

I didn’t realize how the breeze felt when wearing normal shorts, but the Breeze Pants made me realize how comfortable it feels to have some fresh air blowing on my legs.

Midsummer is just around the corner. Not only is the Japanese climate now frequently goes over 40°C, but if you look around the world, there are many countries being hit by extreme heat as well. This product is a mix of anticipation and anxiety. I wonder if it will fit in well with the unique climate and environment of each region?

But, I’m going to be confident and release these clothes to the world.

The name I gave to this new brand/project is “DROPOUTS”.

I wanted to focus on unique and weird ideas from our friends that most people may “drop”. I wanted this to be a platform to make those weird and fun ideas that doesn’t quite fit the Blue Lug label that my colleges comes up with to become an actual product.

This label is launching as a platform for products that don’t quite fit within the scope of Blue Lug’s label, but are filled with passion that we simply couldn’t let them go, and tend to be a bit edgy. I’m hoping this label will be a place where you can see the  diverse staff member’ unique personalities and ideas that we couldn’t just give up on.

I hope you guys like them.

In stores : July 11th (Sat) 

Online : July 12th (Sun) 7:00 p.m. JST

Bye!