Jeans have been around since the late 19th century, but for most of the time they've been around, up until at least the mid 1950s, jeans were workwear. Entirely the domain of farmers, miners, dock workers and cowboys.

Following screen wear by a couple of young Hollywood icons, a new idea took hold - jeans could be style. When young mods first got hold of American denim in the early 60s - a relatively unusual sight in the UK at the time - it only fed their insatiable appetite for everything new and sharp. The finicky process of buying a pair of raw 501s and shrinking them in the bath became a ritual in itself.

Decades on, we're all used to the ubiquity of denim. Generally mass produced, lightweight, and lacking the finished edge (selvedge) that was so essential on earlier made pairs. At Jump the Gun we wanted to get as close as possible to that feeling of encountering brand new imported denim for the first time. Where do you get the best American denim? Japan of course.

Our jeans are all made by TCB - the Two Cats Brand. Based in Okayama, Japan, TCB is a tiny ateliers with just over a dozen employees. Making small batch denim, both raw and sanforised, in various vintage fits.

The Type II was a relatively short lived denim jacket. Made in 1953 to replace the aging Type I denim blouse, the Type II features two flapped pockets, double front pleats and back adjuster tabs on the hem. Whilst it was replaced by the Type III jacket in 1960, the Type II would have still been a relatively common sight to the early 60s denim enthusiast. The Type II is noticeably boxier and less fitted than the Type III.

TCB denim reproduced every detail of this jacket - from the fit right down to the thread count of every seam - from a vintage example in their archive.

Like our other denim jackets, these are pre-shrunk, so expect them to fit a whole size smaller than the label size.

• Relatively short, boxy fit
• Two flapped chest pockets
• Double front pleats
• Double button adjuster tabs on the back
• Visible selvedge on the inside seams
• 13.5oz Zimbabwe cotton
• Pre-shrunk - runs very small - see size guide below for details