Note that he said higher quality, and not better. There is a bit of a difference, as better could mean different things to different people.

You can find plenty of things about the (raw) denim subculture as far as Japan goes, this is probably a decent intro article: https://www.heddels.com/2013/06/what-makes-japanese-denim-so...

Note that none of these brands are really literal workwear. They're not competing at all with carhartt (Most of these pairs will run you $300 at least eg.), and almost everybody who buys a pair is going to buy them for the experience/authenticity and aesthetic (Americana)

Quality is qualitative not quantitative.

Plenty of Japanese stuff isn't better.

Uniqlo sells a variety of jeans. While cheap and good for the price, it isn't exactly high quality.

Is carhart really work wear? All the cool kids wore carhart in junior high 15 years ago where I lived.

> Is carhart really work wear?

Yes. It made the to 'cool' on the back of the rugged reputation, but Carhartt jackets are still a common sight on construction sites, out hunting, and so on. The jackets at least really are that good - waterproof and extremely sturdy.

It's sort of the same role Red Wing boots have slipped into - they count as cool now, but they're still totally viable as heavy workwear.

I'd guess they're in a similar position to North Face, who realized there's a lot more people that want to look fashionable than people who need -50F clothing, or even people who actually ski in that temperature range instead of hiding at the bar...

Pretty much, yeah. They still make good gear, but so does North Face. There's an interesting split between outdoor companies that have made this switch (e.g. North Face) and ones that really haven't (e.g. Black Diamond). It seems like some companies have specialized in gear that no one wears for style, and the rest have hybridized.

Well there's also the like of eddie bauer which went from totally hunting/outdoor casual wear to 100% style wear.

Doesn't Uniqlo manufacture their products in the same Chinese (and Bangladesh) factories as American brands?