Reigning Champ Kyoto Black Collection

We’re big fans of the performance apparel from Reigning Champ here at The Coolector and we love stealthy-looking gear so we’ve unsurprisingly had our heads turned by the new Kyoto Black Collection they’ve just announced.

Carrying on four generations of Japanese tradition and craft — Reigning Champ’s Kyoto Black Collection returns for round two and it’s bigger and better than ever. For this release, they have expanded the collection to include 11 styles across the brand’s signature Lightweight Jersey, Midweight Jersey, and Midweight Terry fabrics/silhouettes.

Since 1915, an imperial dye house rooted in Mibu, Kyoto has dedicated its entire practice to working with just one colour: you guessed it…black. Honed over a century, their process evolved through competition to produce the deepest shade of black for dyeing traditional kimonos and Japanese formal wear and it is this colour used in Reigning Champ’s Kyoto Black Collection of apparel.

By using an ecologically sound dye compound to create a depth of blackness that remains colourfast in the sun and rain, while reducing the reflection of light, the visual impact of this collection is beyond compare. This natural oxide finish uses various kinds of bottoming, including madder, indigo, tea leaves and bark, in order to achieve richer, nuanced tones of black.

Reigning Champ’s Kyoto Black capsule is a partnership built on the values of process, technique, and expertise. Each piece undergoes multiple rounds of dyeing to reach its finished stage of black. Instead of coating the fabric’s surface, this laborious process envelopes each fibre individually. The result brings together a mastery of craftsmanship and preservation of time-honoured traditions, imbuing a renewed sense of texture to the garments.

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