D'URBAN PRODUCT STORY
All is for the single phrase, "Ah, it's D'URBAN."
D'URBAN thinks.How do you define "Good Clothes?"
The answer is very simple. As far as D'URBAN's tags are attached, they are good clothes.
And it is exactly the high quality of "product making" that is...
equired to materialize this simple answer.
What kind of steps are taken from planning through trial manufacture?
What kind of fabrics are purchased and from where?
In what facilities production is carried out?
Who with what skills participate in production?
How do you train these people?
How do you keep completed products?
If the ideal process fails, how can it be recovered?
In what policy, in the first place, garments are made?
We clarify and carry out each of those infinitely enumerated steps.
A garment which satisfies the customer is produced by D'URBAN's such
"product making system." Our staff participating in production always
continue to pursue "D'URBAN QUALITY" under the policy of quality
maintenance and improvement "to aim at the world No. 1 apparel
company in customer satisfaction.
" In 2003, newly designed D'URBAN suits, which are more fitted and
comfortable to wear, have been introduced.
All is for the single phrase, "Ah, it's D'URBAN."
Suits are alive.
In order to bring out the functions and beauty of a western-born suit sufficiently in the atmosphere of Japan with high humidity and four definite seasons, techniques beyond all imagination are required. The better the fabric is, the more sensitively it reacts to changes in the environment and breathes like a living matter.
Comparing the time when the first gale of the spring sweeps past plains and the rainy season in June and midsummer, the difference of expansion/contraction of a suit is more than 1.5 centimeter. This amazing phenomenon is very important, since it serves to determine whether it is a "good suit" breathing as a whole in a well-balanced way, or it is a "bad suit" which becomes flaggy, warped or twitched depending on changes in environment.
Suits are evolving.
It is abominable in the first place that a suit is deforming as you wear it every day, but what matters is not that it will not deform because it is finished "hard and heavy," but that while it is "soft and flexible," it still doesn't deform. For this goal, D'URBAN has been evolving suits for long time.
Needless to say that soft and flexible high-quality fine yarn is absolutely necessary for this purpose, it is impossible to evolve it into a light and soft suit to "pull on as if to drape" without sophisticated skills to treat the fabric as a sensitive and delicate living matter.
Suits which D'URBAN has evolved not only have the front stage of outer fabric (appearance) and the back stage of lining, but also have the more important intermediate stage. That is the haircloth which is capable of responding to the expansion and contraction of high quality outer fabric properly. In this relation, the technique to combine the outer fabric, interlining cloth, and lining fabric into one, and the abilities to develop materials to use in these processes are required. Number of techniques and skills in the intermediate stage, such as the facility whose humidity is kept at 60% all through the year, the section which inspects the stability in shape after dry cleaning of all the products, are just like a secret factory hidden in the thin cloth of a good suit lightly embracing you.
It is just an article for sale, but we want to call it a work. To finish up a beautiful "soft," the demanding "hard" carries weight. As you wear it repeatedly, you will gradually and in a convincing way realize the difference in merits which cannot be achieved in a short time.
Ordinary suits cannot be make in an ordinary way.
Compromise and inertia are forbidden in product making. D'URBAN feels proud that it has sophisticated skills and ability of development others cannot keep pace with. And we, D'URBAN, consider it normal and par for the course. For we would like to denominate each of good suits thus completed "ordinary."
Generally speaking, to say "ordinary is fine" often means that it is the best not to be too expensive or too extreme, but to be "common." However, we think that not like "common," "ordinary" cannot be attained unless you are in the higher level.
A world-class high standard is our "ordinary."
That is our pride. Even though you have many suits in your closet, it often occurs what you happen to choose in the morning tends to be one of the limited favorites. That is what high standard suits are. And D'URBAN's suits must be among such limited ones.
It's not easy to round out a suits.
Do you know the term "Rounded Suit?" It is the fundamental figure of suit D'URBAN proposes.
Different from a typical flat-shaped suit which contacts with and applies the load on only the limited parts of a human body, it is a three-dimensionally produced suit roundly enfolds the body without putting lopsided stress on any part of the body. In order to complete the rounded suit beyond the flat-shaped suit, you have to use various advanced techniques, starting with ergonomics.
What matters is "performanse."
In short, garment making is to "turn a flat fabric into three-dimensional shape adapting to the curves of human body." For example, there is a high technique called "easestitch" to sew two pieces of fabrics in different length together into one piece, gathering the longer piece bit by bit to match the length of shorter one. Another easing technique is to sew two pieces of fabric with curved edges together after straightening the lines by ironing so as to provide an everlasting soft and natural bulge. Utilizing number of advanced sewing techniques, the flat fabric eventually enfolds your back comfortably without straining at blade bones.
And a good suit free from overburden or strain even in the long hours of office work and driving is finally finished. The term "performance" is more appropriate than "function" to evaluate the suits.
You will recognize both mature adults and roundly finished suits soon after you meet them. And the more you learn about them, the better they become.
New Pattern
Comparing with Westerners, arms of Asians are located at the forwarder positions. We have clearly recognized this fact since the start of garment making of D'URBAN. Thus, a D'URBAN's suit can enfold the body of Asian roundly. But can we make it more round and fitted? In every season, the staff of product development asked themselves again and again. And finally and recently, they found the breakthrough. That is to change the balance of width of front, front ease, and back. In other words, to shift the position of seams.
Once found out, it was bluntly simple, but those who participate in production of suits in Japan had not noticed this ideal balance. Suits for Asians do not need wider front width as required in suits for Westerners, since the arms of Asians are positioned forwarder. However, with the stereotype and established practice in designing, they tended to reserve a wider front width.
Shortening the front width properly, we drew a new pattern. It seemed a sharp and clear-cut suit could be made. But what about comfort to wear? There was a slight hesitation in cutting away the ease even though it was excessive one. Might it make the suit too tight? It looked fatigable to wear. It would be so bad if body movement is restrained.
It turned out that all the staff members who wore the trial products and spent several days sighed with satisfaction. A D'URBAN suit whose appearance became more refined and sharper than before has better fit and is more comfortable to wear than ever.
Visible ingenuity, invisible ingenuity.
A suit that fits your body will be less fatigable to wear. This matter of common sense seems hardly to be understood in Japan. Then we ask you a question. At which part of your body do you wear a suit? The answer we have often heard is "to wear at the shoulders" and it is half true but some explanation will be necessary. When you stand up wearing a suit jacket, most of its weight falls upon your shoulders, more precisely on the lines from neck to shoulders. In the case of a suit of better fit, the load is put on around the neck rather than the shoulder tips. Contrary, in a suit of less fit, such as the soft suit which were prevailed during the years of economic bubble, the weight is distributed along the shoulder lines. Remember the principle of leverage. Assuming that the neck is the fulcrum, you feel heavier when the load is applied on the shoulder tips which are positioned far from the fulcrum, and you feel lighter if the weight is supported at the point near the neck.
D'URBAN's new pattern will fit well, light in weight, and less fatigable. To make the sense of fit more comfortable, D'URBAN has advanced its soft tailoring more than ever before. The first step is to adopt softer material for the outer fabric which accounts for a large proportion of component parts. In addition to that, review of sewing specifications and accessory materials which are not usually noticed, and technical innovation are also matters of concern in every season. Regarding sewing specifications, armholes, breast pockets, and front edges have been substantially made softer. As to accessories, the cushion of shoulder pads was improved and completed lighter and softer. For all the haircloth, while fine yarn was adopted, it was twisted hard to maintain the strength. As the fusible interlining, a very soft interlining cloth least necessary for shaping and shape retention is introduced.
To keep the firm and beautiful silhouette of D'URBAN suits, we boldly cut dispensable accessories while maintaining the durability and ability to return to original shape. This close work may somewhat resemble to designing of airplanes and F1 machines. As a result, the weight of accessories was reduced by 20-35 gram, and the 5-10% total weight reduction of suit was achieved. If you think it is not enough weight reduction, we recommend you to try to wear it. As soon as you pull it on, your shoulders will tell the apparent difference.
Enjoy New D'URBAN as much as you like.
Reducing the front width brought another merit. With wider armholes, movement of arms was improved. The enough space at the front shoulders in sewing, called "Omero Pit," was reserved and ease above the shoulders was earned. By this improvement, it will be much easier than before to raise your hand in front and upward.
Well, please enjoy your new D'URBAN as much as you like. As far as the front width was reduced, the front appearance becomes substantially different. It is completed firm and sharp but the change may affect the selection of ties and shirts. Narrower ties will be appreciated for the time being. For shirts, "how to show" will be important since the wider space is exposed.
You will understand as we have stated this much. This technical innovation marvelously coincides with the world megatrend of "sharp-lined new tailored style" which D'URBAN aims at.
Sensibility toward fashion, insight into the market, and technology proven by ergonomics. Whatever route you may take, the summit to reach at last is the same.
