As many of you know, Battenwear is a small, independent family business. If you were to look up "slow fashion" in the dictionary, there might very well be a picture of Shinya and Carrie counting buttons, inspecting fabric, stitching and making dumb little videos to communicate about our clothing with customers.

This first year in Japan has been all about rebuilding Battenwear from the ground up. It has been almost 15 years since we started Battenwear in our apartment in Brooklyn, so we're well accustomed to all of the processes that go into making a brand sustainable and agile . . . from production logistics to vendor, store, and press partnership to online retail. However, as it turns out, doing all of this in a whole new country has presented quite the steep learning curve.

As an additional challenge, we have not only our own high expectations to live up to but also yours! Though we are not a mainstream brand, we have been lucky to develop a healthy cult following of Battenwear-ers, and though you may be a very diverse group from all over the world, the one thing you have in common is excellent and obsessive taste.

So, we've been taking our sweet time getting things set up, so that we can make sure that our collective high standards are met with aplomb. And now, after a year of rebuilding, we're finally ready to pull back the curtain to show you what we're planning for our next chapter.

In the USA, we will continue to make bags and some of our hats ( . . . and returning soon, your favorite pocket tees). Our friends at Independence Chicago have kindly headquartered our US operations and have already been handling our online shopping experience

In Japan, we create all of our garments, taking advantage of not only the local craftsmanship and exquisite attention to detail, but the Japanese encyclopedic approach to heritage fashion. Battenwear has always been rooted in American outdoor and casual culture, and Japanese artisans are great at studiyng and preserving that culture with obsessive dedication. We couldn't ask for a better home for the next stage of Battenwear.

So, now the question comes back to you. Where will you buy your Battenwear from? Well, hopefully, now that we are rebuilding our B2B partnerships with stores, we'll be back at your local select shop.

In the meantime, both of our online stores ship internationally. Depending on where you live, shipping costs, duties, exchange rates, and product availability may vary, so we encourage you to explore both stores and choose whichever works best for you.

As always, if you have any questions or just want to check in and say hi, we hope you'll get in touch. 

As we approach year 15, we'd like to raise a toast: Here's to you, for all your support, as well as your patience over the last couple of years as we have been working on this transition to the new phase of Battenwear. We couldn't do it without you!