The Rivet & Hide Guide to Persimmon Dyeing

The past few weeks have seen the arrival of some exciting new pieces from Pure Blue Japan and Studio D’Artisan. Among the most expressive are their kakishibu—or persimmon-dyed—denim jackets and jeans.

Kakishibu dyeing is an ancient Japanese technique that uses fermented juice from unripe persimmons. A persimmon is an orange-looking, peach-impersonating, tomato-adjacent golden fruit—delicious when ripe, bitter beyond belief when unripe. Given that Japanese makers and artisans have been using the persimmon to dye fabric since the 13th century, we thought we’d take a moment to honour the humble little fruit and unpack just what’s so special about natural kakishibu dyeing.

At the core of kakishibu is the persimmon—specifically the astringent persimmon, known in Japan as shibu-gaki. These aren’t the sweet, soft ones you might be used to eating in autumn. These are packed with tannins—bitter, drying compounds that taste awful but make for the perfect natural dye.

The tannin-rich juice is extracted from the unripe fruit, then left to ferment for months—sometimes even years. As the juice ages, it thickens and darkens, turning into a deep, earthy liquid with natural preservative and water-resistant properties. That’s kakishibu.

Once ready, the dye is brushed or dipped onto fabric by hand—a slow and meticulous process. It’s also unpredictable: no two pieces come out quite the same. Sunlight deepens the colour over time, evolving from a warm, coppery brown to rich, earthy tones unique to each wearer.

Traditionally, kakishibu wasn’t just used to colour fabric. It was also called upon to waterproof paper umbrellas, strengthen wood, and even serve as a natural lacquer. But on cloth—especially cotton and denim—it becomes something else entirely: a dye that lives, shifts, and responds to light and time.

Much like indigo, persimmon is a living colour—steeped in centuries of tradition and known for the way it continues to evolve over time.

Much like indigo, kakishibu changes, grows, and responds to how it’s worn. Where indigo lightens and fades with time and friction, kakishibu darkens and deepens with sunlight.

For all the artisanal alchemy of kakishibu dyeing, the real magic happens once the newly dyed garment sees sunlight. This is because UV rays react with the dye’s tannins, gradually deepening the colour. Kakishibu fabrics start pale with a faintly orange cast, but those hues shift to deep browns, rusts, and even reddish umbers over time.

Every garment comes out a little different. How long it's left in the sun, the humidity, even how many times it’s been dyed and dried—all leave their mark. And because the dye continues to evolve with wear and exposure, the garment ages beautifully, becoming more personal the longer you live in it.

It’s time, sunlight, and patience—captured in fabric.

In a word? Beautifully.

Typically, kakishibu is performed as a garment-dyeing process. Cut-and-sewn shirts, sweaters, and trousers are dip-dyed wholesale in pools of persimmon pigment. This creates a beautiful top layer of earthy, terracotta tones that evolve over time.

Things get really interesting when you incorporate persimmon-dyed yarns into the weave of—you guessed it—denim. When applied to indigo or black denim, kakishibu dye adds a whole new dimension to the fabric, creating a rich interplay of living colours.

The heavy cotton yarns absorb the kaki tannins differently than lighter fabrics—more slowly, more stubbornly. This means the initial colour tends to be more subtle: muted browns and coppery undertones sit beneath the black or indigo dyes.

Because denim is typically so dense, multiple rounds of hand-dyeing and sun-drying are usually needed. This layering creates depth—you get highs and lows in the fabric, and the patina evolves as the denim fades and breaks in. Over time, the kakishibu can even influence the fade pattern, tinting wear areas with reddish-brown highlights.

The result? A denim that tells a story not just through wear, but through sunlight and time. It’s like watching autumn slowly settle into a pair of jeans. Just as time brings contrast and character to indigo-dyed denim, so too does sunlight deepen and intensify persimmon dye—bringing out richly earthen, rusted tones. Just as one lightens, the other deepens. Wear creates a dialogue between dye and denim: high spots lighten, shadows deepen.

At its heart, kakishibu dyeing is about patience, imperfection, and transformation. This isn’t a quick-fix, throw-it-in-a-vat style of dyeing. It’s a slow, sunlight-reactive, hands-on process. It’s a technique steeped in tradition that lets nature’s organic tannins do the heavy lifting, providing rich, earthy pigments that enhance a garment’s charm and allure over time.

Kakishibu is an ode to impermanence, slow change, and evolving beauty. And that’s exactly what makes it so magical.

Shop our selvedge denim collection.