Ken Ijima, co-founder of fashion label Vuja Dé, announced on Tuesday morning a partnership between the brand and Proletareart, a tokyo-based brand specializing in customized clothing.
In an Instagram post Ijima explained, “We are pleased to announce that Vuja Dé and Proletareart will be in an exclusive partnership, releasing hand made pieces from vintage garments with our first drop coming later this Fall.”
The post heavily features an different version of a piece Ijima revealed just a few days prior. A varsity jacket which he stated was “75% done.”
Ijima further reveals in the original post that the jacket provides a “timeline” of his childhood. Featuring characters from the comic strip Peanuts and making references toward artists like Dali and James Turell. Ijima goes on to say there is a, “dichotomy between Art and Music – 2 subjects that shaped me to be me shown distinctively on our jacket, denim, hoodies, and many more in the near future.”
Vuja Dé’s FW collection will be called “Winter Wind” another musical reference, this time to a piece by Chopin of the same name. Each piece is said to be unique thanks to “traditional Japanese” threading techniques which will be facilitated by Proletareart.
In a recent vlog Ijima posted to his personal YouTube channel, he revealed he had been working on a redline denim restoration project. In the vlog, Ijima stated he wanted to cater to Japanese techniques across various communities in Japan. It would seem this collection is a continuation of that mindset, with Proletareart being the driving force behind those special techniques.
Proletareart is a brand with a very strong identity, the name is a play on the Marxist term “proletariat,” which is a collective term referring to working-class people. Their purpose was to remake old garments that had been “retired” so that they may be given new life as art. In a recent interview with Prot, the pseudonym presumably used by the brand owner, they explained their dedication to “vintage processing.” Prot said, “When the technique of ‘vintage processing’ is maximized, it may wear an aura that goes beyond the texture of old clothes that have existed for a long time.”
It would seem Vuja Dé and Proletareart are very aligned in their attitudes toward clothing, soon many will see how that plays out in their upcoming collection.
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