Iron Heart Review: 4 Years in 4 Pairs of the World’s Toughest Jeans

Iron Heart denim is an absolute pillar of the Japanese denim world. Sometimes polarizing, it is the gateway drug for many into the world of high end selvedge denim, and for just as many it’s the end point, the final destination. I have four pairs myself, they’re the only selvedge I currently own, and they’re my favorite denim brand. 

But many will move on to more irregular, slubby or bizarre fare, feeling ultimately underwhelmed by IH’s slow fades and smooth, uniform weaves. Yet the devotees of Iron Heart are some of the most vocal and numerous in the space. For many, myself included, Iron Heart is a pinnacle of sorts, a brand which has cultivated a diehard fan base of almost cultish fervor. 

But what is it really about Iron Heart jeans that gets some people so inspired that they spend hundreds (or even thousands) for their collections, while leaving others entirely uninspired and looking for something more interesting?

[Further Reading: The Best Selvedge Denim: 8 Solid Brands for Quality, Value, & Weirdness]

https://youtu.be/Wov633Dd_W4 

Iron Heart Jeans Pros & Cons 

Pros

• Smooth, uniform fabrics are luxurious and despite being stiff when new, they seldom feel abrasive
• Consistency in appearance is very rare for selvedge denim

• Slow to fade, resulting in a greater longevity 

• Beautiful quality throughout, with many details of traditional denim craftsmanship

• Cool patches

• Minimal branding or external logos

Worth The Hype

Iron Heart Denim

Renowned as some of the toughest, best made, best fading denim on Earth, expect a uniform look and unbeatable toughness.

Shop Iron Heart USA Shop Iron Heart UK

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Cons

• Slow to fade. Yep, it’s also a con, depending on your priority. If you want something that will look like a classic pair of old thrift store jeans in six months, you best keep looking

• Hard to find. With only a few brick and mortar retailers in the US, these can be tough to try on for sizing 

• The god damn pocket bags, which wear through and blow out long before you’ll need other repairs 
• Uniformity in the weave and overall manufacturing means that you aren’t going to get massive variety to pair to pair. This can be a pro or a con, depending on your priority, but some selvedge guys like lots of unique irregularities

[Further reading: The 8 Best Selvedge Denim Brands]

The Works, Inc

In 2002, after two decades of experience working in the Japanese garment industry, Shinichi Haraki founded The Works Inc. This is the manufacturer and parent company of the Iron Heart Brand, the inspiration for which was the motorcycling community that Haraki-san enthusiastically counted himself among. Like many of the selvedge denim and broader heritage fashion brands that came from Japan, there was an immediate emphasis on a certain classic, mid-century workwear aesthetic. (Think Brando wearing a Schott Perfecto in ‘The Wild One.’)

These were meant to be heavy, densely woven, and substantive jeans that would, at least in theory, stand up to the rough and tumble of the road. From there, the brand would slowly build its loyal following as the jeans began to be distributed internationally in 2005. As the presence of the brand continued to grow over the years, the aesthetic and philosophy of the brand would remain much the same: well made, classic styles, without undue emphasis on trend or gimmicks.

Many brands in the selvedge space emphasize experimentation with fabrics, conjuring denim with supernatural amount of slub, nep or rainbow colors, glow-in-the-dark yarns and so forth. Iron Heart is the other end of the spectrum: thick, tough, relatively uniform denim.

To be fair, Iron Heart’s heavyweight, 21 oz denims really and truly set them apart at their release, the brand has since expanded its offerings to other a wider range of weights ranging from 12oz to the legendary 25oz extra heavies I own, as well as other apparel lines including, shirts, chinos, and jackets like the iconic deck jacket owned by my editor Nick. 

[Further reading: What Exactly Is Selvedge Denim, Though?]

Iron Heart Jeans Fits

As you may be reading this as a first time shopper with the brand, I’ll quickly run through Iron Heart’s fits.

• The 634 is the classic straight leg with a medium rise and a very slight taper from knee to hem
• the 1955 jeans are similar, with a higher rise and fuller thighs
• My jeans are all 777, the slim cut, which are slightly more tapered than
• the 666 cut that they describe as a more “grown up slim cut.”
• 555 is the super slim with a high rise, and
• the 888 is the relax tapered cut, so it has a fairly high rise, roomy thighs, and a taper from knee to hem. That’s the fit my editor Nick wears, for reference, a man who is known for his meaty thighs. 

How Iron Heart Fades

• Slowly
• That’s why Iron Heart fades are extra prized among denimheads
• Some add a capful of bleach when machine washing to speed them along

By and large, the thing that attracts most denim heads to the world of selvedge denim is the fades. The way that the fabric of your jeans takes on the character of your life and use can be extremely satisfying to watch over time – the result of years of wear being a color and finish that is entirely unique to you.

Well, if you’re of course nerdy enough to notice the differences and care. Otherwise it just sorta looks like faded jeans. Anyway.

For many, getting to those sick fades as fast and as painlessly as possible is the whole game. So much so, that there is even an international competition, the Indigo Invitational, that seeks to find the most contrasty, most distinct, and all around coolest fades possible. The catch is you have one year to go from brand new to faded af. While Iron Hearts are regularly among those submitted, they are generally known to be stubborn, slow to fade jeans. You really have to earn your fades with Iron Heart. 

Personally, that was something that really appealed to me. You see, as much as I personally love a really cool honeycomb pattern or super high contrast whiskers, I also like how crisp, clean, and frankly professional a brand new pair of indigo raws looks. In fact, I will often endeavor to maintain that clean look for as long as I can. (Heresy to some, I’m sure).

But that’s the thing with Iron Heart: you kind of get the best of both worlds. Because while they are slower to fade than other jeans out there, once they do fade in, you often get really distinct looks, especially out of the heavier weights. 

The main things I did to encourage my fades? When I take them off, a bunch them up in a vertical stack to reinforce creasing and encourage the natural folding in the waist and the back of the legs.

The general rule for fades is the less often you wash, the more high contrast they’ll be. There’s no law against washing your jeans every few wears or whenever you feel like it, the fades will just be a little more uniform if you do. One hack we learned at Naked & Famous in the video above: a capful of bleach when you machine wash them will help speed the fades and the contrast. Is that “cheating”? Look, we’re not taking sides!

My Iron Heart Collection

Currently, I own four pairs of Iron Hearts:

• 14 oz Indigo
• 14 oz Mad Black
• 18 oz Over Dye
• 25 oz Indigo/Black.

These days only the first and last on that list are easy to find on their site, the other two being limited editions or collaborations.

Those two combination dyed jeans are something that I gravitate towards in a big way: that’s denim that’s dyed one color then overdyed with another, so that with wear the initial color begins to come through as “fades.” 

All of Iron Heart’s denim is sanforized, which means it goes through an initial wash to solidify the dyes and prevent dramatic shrinkage. (Unsanforized jeans, like Nick’s Studio D’Artisan, needed a hot soak before wear and shrunk a good two sizes.) 3 of the pairs are 777s, with the fourth being the 301s. For all intents and purposes, they’re the same cut: a slim tapered fit with a low(ish) rise.  

Now, without getting too into the weeds, it should be noted that Iron Heart’s indigo denim is rope dyed, resulting in a very consistent and even coloration. From there, the real magic happens depending on the desired finish, with varying styles and, sometimes, the aforementioned overdyeing. (You can clearly tell when this has been done because that iconic gold stitching will be darkened, almost muddy as a result of the dying). 

Each method of overdyeing results in a slightly different effect, and a different fade. The Mad Black starts indigo and is then overdyed twice with black. It’s the slowest and most resistant finish — sort of the antifade, if you will. (Again, Mad Black was one-off with NYC store Self Edge, but they sell other overdyed pairs on their site that fade from blue to black.) 

By contrast, the Indigo/Black is an absolute recipe for high contrast fades, where the warp is indigo dyed yarn and the weft is black dyed yarn. Pair that with a ultra-heavy weight like the 25 oz, and you are bound to get very dramatic, very high contrast textures and patterns.

However, if what you’re looking for is that simple, classic, worn in blue jean look, then stick to the traditional indigo. After a couple of years, they will be the most natural and comfortable pair of pants you own.

But Why Iron Heart Specifically?

Now, I am in no way shape or form a motorcycle enthusiast. While absolutely love Ewan McGregor’s “Long Way’ road trip mini-series, that’s about as close to a motorcycle as I normally get. So what was it that drew me to Iron Heart in the first place?

Simply put, it was the quality. You see, Iron Heart’s denim is known for being extremely uniform in its weave. While, again, some feel that results in uninteresting fades, well, you tell me…

In any case, the classic, but never gimmicky styling of the brand, with little touches of heritage flare (often present on the patches) brings just enough fun to the table without being too loud or over the top. 

The classic, but never gimmicky styling of the brand brings just enough fun to the table without being too loud or over the top.

But the benefit of that uniformity in the way the fabric itself is made, is an extremely smooth, dare I say comfortable raw denim. Yes, I did say “comfortable  raw denim.” The very phrase seems like an oxymoron. But truly, that is the case with most of the Iron Hearts that I’ve owned (especially when the correct size was purchased).

It’s also important to emphasize that it’s an incredibly impressive feat that Iron Heart is able create such uniform denim on chattering vintage shuttle looms, the only way to make selvedge and one that’s famous for making knotty and irregular denim. To those who find it boring, the boringness is actually an enormous accomplishment.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the heavy stuff, the 21, or 25 oz jeans are a beast to break in. They are stiff, and can be a bit abrasive — the first 3 days walking around wearing the 25 ounce extra heavies actually resulted in bruising.

But, to contrast, the 14 oz, and to a certain degree the 18oz pairs feel incredible and, dare I say luxurious even when they’re new. The smoothness of the fabric itself results in a very pleasant feeling on the body, rather than feeling like you’re covered in a knotted, slubby sack of sand paper. Sure, the fabric is stiff, but it’s not abrasive, and that’s a key difference. 

While I am more than crazy enough to suffer (a bit) for my fades, when I’m spending three, or even four hundred dollars on a pair of jeans, I want them to feel fancy, god dammit! And with Iron Hearts, with hidden rivets, distinct yet classic red selvedge id, beautiful leather patches, and uniform stitching (in two different shades of yellow and gold for those who look real close) there’s enough attention to detail throughout – and that’s really the stuff that I’m a sucker for.

It’s the fine, well thought out and intentional details that really get me. Sure, like a good pair of heavy boots, and you have to work to break them in. But despite that, these still feel like very high end, very enjoyable jeans. 

So Are Iron Heart Jeans Worth It?

As with all things, but especially esoteric, expensive, nichey hobbies, selvedge denim is a study of personal preference.

For some, Iron Heart is just too consistent to be of much interest. For others, it is precisely that quality and consistency which is of such high appeal.

Personally, the whole point of delving into the often tedious and wildly impractical realm of Japanese selvedge denim, was to get high quality investment pieces that would evolve and develop character as they accompany me through life. And once they’re faded and worn through, with blowouts and frayed seems, well, I’ll go them repaired and keep on wearing them. 

The truth of the matter is, as great as a pair of jeans with sick fades look, if they don’t feel great — and I mean really great, like that truly broken in, custom made second skin kind of great — then it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.

Of all the denim that I’ve handled, Iron Heart checks all of the boxes for me. They’re beautifully made, look and feel great the day that they are brand new, and only get better from there. What more could I really want? 

Worth The Hype

Iron Heart Denim

Renowned as some of the toughest, best made, best fading denim on Earth, expect a uniform look and unbeatable toughness.

Shop Iron Heart USA Shop Iron Heart UK

We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.