45 Rpm Studio

If this store wasn’t so beautiful, the 99% would have burned it down already. It’s the kind of place that has more customers than pieces of clothing at any one time, but the vibe isn’t nearly as pretentious as it could be, though I did walk in once to see a guy «watering» the wood floor. Teach me, sensei.
They say that 45rpm jeans are some of the best available in this country, and I’d believe it. Shuttle loomed and hand dyed and all that. As beautiful as the denim is, the fits aren’t exactly what you’d call modern. Plus, the jeans are so awesome that I’d be getting compliments about how amazingly the natural indigo fades and not how great my ass looks.
If you’re in the area it’s definitely worth a look, just don’t even try to rationalize buying anything.

pros: First, I just wanted to point out how weird it is that the store hasn’t been reviewed in a long while. Sonia E.‘s review was the last, which was 6+ months ago, and even then, hers was the first in, like, 3 yrs. Weird indeed. This place should get lots of love b/​c the clothing is simply beautiful, as in it’s simple AND beautiful. When there are patterns, the patterns are always neutral colors and easy on the eyes.
cons: I hate not having the money to spend on such lovely things (and I do love lovely things). It doesn’t help that there aren’t that many things to choose from, so it’s not like I can buy one of the cheaper shirts or dresses. The small selection has nothing to do with the size of the store or the location not being well stocked; it’s just that there isn’t much new merchandise out each season.
overall: A few trips to their stores and a few looks in their catalog will make you a fan. If not, strike up a conversation with the salespeople. They can show you a pair of 800 $ jeans for which the tag reads, Material: goat. Yet, they are clearly denim. It is strange and wonderful. Don’t you love it already?

OK– I love the design of this store. And I love a lot of the things they make. And they make women’s clothes as well and it’ s not just jeans. The owner of this company has incredible taste in everything– except salespeople.
A few of them are ok– but the chilly, rudeness is just sad.
Why not have enthusiasm about the stuff you’re selling? Or life in general? Or the fact even that you have a job?
It’s hard to bring yourself to spend money in places where people are assholes.
I love their stuff. (Though a $ 235 tshirt is a bit insane, no?) But there’s no way on earth I’d buy a $ 235 tshirt from an *sshole.
They make it feel really good to walk out of there buying nothing.

Okay I’d give this place 5 stars just for the super awesome interior and excellent customer service. Clothing and accesories here are top notch quality but also very expensive. The real selling point here are the jeans which you gotta go to rby45rpm UES store for.
Last time I was there the Sorahikos were simply stunning though the cut is not particularily my taste. This place is a must check out for any denimhead.

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it sure wasn’t Gilligan’s Island.
An oasis for denimheads and those who aspire to be, 45 RPM carries super high-​end jeans pricing over $ 700. WTH and Why? For all my questions, I consult Dan V. :)

If you want some serious denim there are 2 places in NYC you should go: one of the 2 R by 45rpm stores (soho and upper east), and Blue in Green in soho!
45rpm has the Jomon, one of the best natural indigo jeans that uses the best organic handpicked Zimbabwean cotton. The jeans were dyed in Ai, the natural indigo plant, 24 times, by hand! it is a very time consuming process. 45rpm also have full control of all stages of production of their jeans. The Jomons are available in one-​wash, they were unsanforized so you definitely don’t want to get raw and guess how much they shrink after soak, not with jeans at these prices. They also could hand-​distress the Jomons, bespoke if you will, but I don’t really recommend that, save yourself some money and get the one-​wash and wear them out yourself!
If you’re not ready for the Jomons, they have other cuts like the Sorahiko and Sorahiko slim. The Jomons are a relatively slim fit straight leg cut, the Sorahikos are a bit more of a relaxed fit, while the Sarahiko slims are more slim fit. The Sorahiko Slims are available in raw on their website, but like I said before, get the one wash unless you enjoy soaking your jeans and putting on wet jeans to check shrinkage and such. (it’s fun maybe the first 2 times you do it, after that you would probably just f’king get one-​wash)…
the store also got other clothing items like flannel shirts and belts and wallets, obviously everything is pricey, but they are very high quality.
The soho store just got a new jeans in like last week, they are called the BC4000 AI Indigo Vintage. I have no idea how they look like, but they are around 9.5oz, left hand twill, organic handpicked Zimbabwaen cotton, same dye process as Jomon, lower rise (4 button)…one wash cost $ 1160 and distressed are around $ 1300! yeah, holy fuck! these make my Jomons a fucking bargain!

Don’t let the name fool you. This isn’t a vinyl shop but rather a japanese high end boutique that caters to a more casual yet hip crowd. Their jeans are the main draw here, particularly the sorahiko and jomon’s ($ 758). I’ve never been to the store in tokyo but I’ve heard they can custom distress your jeans over there through a process where they sit you in some sort of tub or something. Very technical as you can tell the japanese are crazy about denim. Here’s a little excerpt from their site about the jomon’s :
Our premium denim highlights what we are best known for, simple denim made of the utmost quality. Jomon refers to the Paleolithic Period in Japanese history, and the denim we feature here is made with the intention of producing fabric with a slubby handmade quality. We use 100% organic, handpicked Zimbabwean cotton. Ring-​spun thread, hand-​dyed with Ai, Japanese natural plant indigo 24 times, and woven on slowed down vintage shuttle looms producing selvage fabric, all add to the unique characteristics of this denim. This is a unisex button-​fly jean, and the fit is very straightforward. One of our straightest and somewhat slim fits. 100% cotton. Available only in O/​W. Hand-​distressed versions are available by custom order. Please email us with any inquiries.
order them online at
or go to their UES location because they don’t sell their jeans at the mercer street location.