Evisu
 | |
| Limited | |
| Industry | Apparel |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Founder | Hidehiko Yamane |
| Headquarters | Osaka, Japan |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products |
Apparel Accessories Undergarment |
Evisu or Evisu Genes is a Japanese designer clothing company that specializes in producing denim wear through traditional, labor-intensive methods.
The brand was founded in 1991 in Osaka, Japan, by Hidehiko Yamane.
The initial production line allowed about 14 pairs of jeans a day to be produced, with each of them having a seagull (kamome) hand painted on them by Yamane himself. Ebisu is the name of the Japanese folk god of money who is usually portrayed with a fishing rod. His name was selected for the new venture as money and fishing are two of Yamane's five favorite things.
In the early 1990s Yamane introduced a tailoring line, followed by fishing and golf lines. In 1999, he introduced a ladies fashion line called Evisu Donna to complete the development of Evisu as a full-fashion range going far beyond a jeans brand. Evisu now has 65 shops in Japan.
In March 2006, the company and Yamane were reported to Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office with another firm on suspicion of tax evasion. Yamane and the two firms stood accused of concealing more than 500 million yen of income as well as evading some 160 million yen in taxes over three years.[1][2]
In 2009, Evisu was relaunched, and Scott Morrison, the co-founder of Paper Denim & Cloth and Earnest Sewn, was added to the Evisu team as CEO and creative Director.[3]
Pop culture
The brand has been mentioned in several rap songs, including Jay-Z's 2002 tracks; "Show You How" and "Jigga That Nigga", in Young Jeezy's track "Bury me a G", The Game's "Down for my Niggaz", T.I.'s "ASAP" and Lil Wayne's "Lock & Load (Feat. Kurupt)". Club Dogo, an Italian rap group, mentioned the brand in the single "Spacco tutto".