Vintage Summit 11: A Vintage Summit of the industry's leading eccentrics discussing vintage clothing.

Fujiwara:Now, let's talk about the denim connection. These are denims for kids, mainly dead stocks of "506XXB," the boy's version of "506XX," the so-called "first model" of Levi's.

Konno:Kids in particular have skyrocketed in the last few years.

Abe:Why not? There have always been a good number of kids collectors, haven't there?

Konno:I've heard that many world-renowned vintage collectors have been moving into the kids' category in recent years.

Fujiwara:It seems so. Mr. Konno told me the other day that some collectors are giving away their personal collections all at once and using the money to buy kids' denim.

Abe:You mean collector's items that are not meant to be worn?

Fujiwara:It appears so.

Konno:Since they seem to be framed and displayed, you have heard that demand is concentrated on kids' sizes that fit in frames, not boys' sizes.

Abe:So it's not a salesman's sample (the manufacturer's salesman carried around a small sample with exactly the same specifications as the product so that it could be carried as compactly as possible when making sales to retailers), but a kid's sample.

Kurihara:Well, salesman samples have far fewer balls, and we all know that they are already in the thick of the battle, so I wonder if the kids' stuff, which is still easy to get compared to those, is getting more attention.

Abe:I see. Is there a clear segregation between boys and kids?

Fujiwara:What is particularly obvious is the buttons. While the boys' version uses the same size buttons as the adult version, the kids' version uses smaller buttons, so the boys' version looks more like the regular version. Besides, the size indications are also different. In particular, pants are marked with the target age range instead of waist inches, like "AGE 0" at the "W" sign.

Abe:I see. But of course it's cheaper than the standard version, right?

Fujiwara:It's a difficult point, isn't it? In the case of the "506XXB" that I brought this time, taking into account its rarity and the fact that it is a dead stock, I think it will cost no less than 1,000,000 yen.

Abe:That's a lie (laughs).

Fujiwara:No, no, the market has changed dramatically over the past few years. Some parts of the market have become investment targets....

Abe:It's now in the realm of antiques....