It started in 2000, with a phone call from an ordinary customer. An elderly gentleman said, "I want to wear jeans again which I used to like so much. Could you make jeans that fit me in my present shape?" After that, we happened to have similar requests from time to time. For each case, the company responded individually, making jeans in accordance to the requests. They, however, were far from profitable, giving no clue to becoming a business as it was.
The turning point for us to start business was the opening of the Jeans Museum in 2003. The idea of made-to-order jeans hit President Yasuhiro Oshima as a service to visitors. He had been providing such a service in the previous three years, after all.
"As they come all the way to Kojima, I wanted to offer something they could get only here in Kojima which was a production center of jeans. We have our own factory, techniques, and staff, which were all assets of the company. That’s why we could start it.”
It was the first attempt in the industry to produce full-fledged made-to-order jeans with not only letting customers select fabric and accessories but also designing each pair of jeans one by one from the pattern. Such novelty and authentic craftsmanship were appreciated in and outside of Japan. In 2007, he launched made-to-order jeans at his shop in Savile Row, London. Afterwards, acquiring high reputation in many countries, he started made-to-order jeans in Hong Kong and Seoul in 2010 and the following year 2011, respectively.
Currently, they receive 2,000 orders annually. Their system is fully enhanced which is no comparison to the one when they started, with techniques of individual staff improving. In 2014, made-to-order jeans will have a fresh start under the “DENIM WORKS” brand. Made-to-order jeans themselves will be made with the same system and care as before. What’s new will be original products, ready-mades, produced with all the techniques and experiences earned during the past 20 years of making made-to-order jeans. We will offer them in parallel. Although they are industrial products, their quality is very close to that of made-to-order jeans crafted by hands. Having been always making new trends in the industry with new initiatives, Betty Smith Co. will embark on a new challenge.