Ichiro Nakatsu, a lifelong vintage collector who'd built up a substantial archive of American denim, military and workwear pieces, founded orSlow in Kobe, Japan in 2005 as a deliberate reaction against fast fashion's short product cycles. The name splits "or," for original, and "slow," for the deliberate, unhurried pace behind each piece. Denim and garments are made in small factories across the Okayama and Kobe regions using traditional Japanese weaving techniques, aiming for fabric that develops its own patina over years of wear rather than looking finished on day one.