You Used to Have to Go to Japan to Get Really Good L.L.Bean — Not Anymore
Everyone wants vintage L.L.Bean. L.L.Bean Japan makes vintage L.L.Bean new, with all the retro-faithful trappings intact but upgraded through contemporary construction. The issue, of course, is that L.L.Bean Japan was only available in one country. (hint: not America, where L.L.Bean was founded over 100 years ago.) But now, L.L.Bean Japan is coming home. Er, leaving home.
Once again, L.L.Bean is thoughtfully importing L.L.Bean Japan over to America offering a rare opportunity to tap into some super wearable, super slick workwear reinterpretations. It's everything that makes L.L.Bean great but... Japan.
The real It Factor is that L.L.Bean Japan, a separate entity owned by the American company, has the same secret sauce that's responsible for transforming heritage Americana clothing brands into swagged-out Japanese fashion lines. It's difficult to put into words — and not quite as pithy as Thing vs. Thing Japan — but think of it as a design language that gets right to the heart of what people like about the brand's most recognizable stuff and reimagines it new.
That doesn't mean merely reiterating the stuff that Leon Leonwood Bean was wearing. No, L.L.Bean Japan dials into '90s-era L.L.Bean, which admirers would likely acknowledge as the company's modern heyday.
Like previous L.L.Bean Japan collections, the focus is on fun, wearable stuff informed by L.L.Bean's utilitarian legacy: a high-vis anorak is printed with an illustrative school of fish, the inimitable Field Coat is extended into a soft-washed canvas duster, and the lived-in T-shirts printed with retro catalog imagery are cut wide 'n loose.
Available at a handful of American L.L.Bean stores and the L.L.Bean web store from March 24, the obvious goodness of the L.L.Bean Japan is a reminder of a simple truism: vintage L.L.Bean will never die.
That's not only because the old stuff was made to last but also because its function-first aesthetic still looks so darn good. Even that name, "L.L.Bean," is inextricable from the airy notion of outdoorsy Americana reflected in its hardy flannel shirts, field jackets, and world-famous Bean boots. But of it all, the Bean Bag — officially known as the Boat 'n Tote — is the brand's crown jewel, a tote bag so perfect that it's the template for just about every other tote that's come since. (and yes, beautiful tonal L.L.Bean Japan iterations of the bag will roll out alongside the clothes)
It wasn't so long ago that to find the best examples of vintage Bean, you had to go all the way to Japan. It really was that hard to find great Americana in America. Go figure. Well, secret's long been out and vintage L.L.Bean is so hot that the Maine company frequently partners with buzzy Red Hook secondhand store Wooden Sleepers for concisely curated capsules of throwback gear.
The only better time to wear L.L.Bean was the '90s and, thanks to L.L.Bean Japan, even that's back.
Highsnobiety has affiliate marketing partnerships, which means we may receive a commission from your purchase. Want to shop the products our editors actually love? Visit HS Shopping for recs on all things fashion, footwear, and beauty.
