ONI raw selvedge denim jeans are some of the most renowned raw denim jeans in the world, let alone one of the most coveted Japanese denim brands to date. These are jeans that are explicitly Japanese, jeans that have created almost a sub-category of their own in the world of raw denim, solidifying themselves as one of the greatest Japanese fashion brands ever created. The ONI raw selvedge denim jeans is a brand that is cited to have begun it's foray into business between the year 2000 and 2003, with much of the beginnings of ONI remaining a mystery.
Masao Oishi-San, the founder of ONI denim, is a denimhead in his own right, who has spent the better part of 50 years in the denim industry, having traveled back and forth from California during his time as one of the first employees of Levi's Japan. Masao Oishi-San, who is now 76 years old as of 2026, eventually began creating ONI denim utilizing his combined experience from working with Levi's, as well as his experience under the Oishi Trading Co. (in which he had no familial relation to, coincidentally,) to create the most unique pairs of jeans the world has ever seen!
There are myths that every meter of ONI raw selvedge denim is hand-loomed by Oishi-San himself on a wooden shuttle loom, where he himself touches each and every single fabric made for his jeans. However, this I believe is 100% false, as there is no possible way this is feasible. Still, ONI denim's fabrics and washing techniqus are admired as some of the finest in the world, and the brand itself is shrouded in mystery, as ONI denim itself has no business website, does no marketing at all, and is purely discovered through word of mouth.
ONI denims offerings are mainly grounded in their slubbiness and their "secret dying techniques," which range from the ONI Low Tension 150z. raw selvedge denim, to the ONI Crushed Concrete Denim with is an insanely slubby AND neppy raw denim, the ONI super neppy raw denim which have a darker indigo appearance and slightly less slub than the Crushed Concretes, all the way to ONI's most famous denim fabric, the ONI Secret Denim jeans. The ONI Secret denim is an indigo denim that is dyed with what I believe is a sulfur additive (still unsure personally, although many green-cast denims are dyed this way), which creates one of the most recognizable raw denim fabrics in men's fashion history
To this day, ONI is still only carried by FEW select retailers in which Masao Oishi-san himself deems share the same values as ONI itself. This is what makes ONI one of my personal favorite Japanese raw selvedge denim jeans brands, as it shows the passion and artistry of ONI denim reigns above all. One of the best places to get ONI raw denim is a store that I am personally friendly with, being Blue Beach Denim, as they were one of the first to sell ONI denim jeans internationally, and seemingly have the largest selection of ONI raw selvedge denim jeans that I have ever seen.
Check out Blue Beach Denim's ONI collection here!
