Denim Explained

Who would have thought that the world of designer denim would have exploded into such a wonderful and diverse world. The choices to the consumer seem to be endless with variations of cotton, washes, fits, lengths all merging and flooding the market with different styles of jeans. Choice is a good thing though...right?  The obvious answer is yes but sometimes that choice can be a confusing factor when it comes to someone wanting to buy a pair of jeans and don't know what style is for them or why one pair might be astronomical in price compared to another.

We have found  a nice little article over on EzineArticles about designer denim and the differences between them all and we've produced a quick little overview of them here for anyone that hasn't got the time to read it all.

Raw Denim

After being dyed in the production process, raw denim (or unwashed, dry denim) the denim is not put through a wash process. This in turn produces a strong colour which fades naturally through time and starts to begin to show signs of wear and tear. In essence, this effect is sometimes seen as being a story of how you wear your jeans with faded areas appearing on knees or rear areas where rubbing might occur or where your wallet/phone is in your pocket.  Washing your jeans is not recommended with raw denim until 6 months or the dye will pour out and you will not be able to achieve this effect as well.

Washed

Pre-washed denim is the opposite to raw denim in that it has gone through a washing process after the production phase. Nice effects can be achieved with this process such as producing from the outset the faded areas which you might wish to achieve from raw denim after a few months.

Japense Denim

Widely regarded as the premium cotton in the business. Some of the designer brands with higher price points will use japanese denim for that reason. The old Japanese looms produce a rich, dark, soft denim from the cotton that others seem to struggle to compete with.

Selvage Denim
Selvage (Selvedge) denim is again at the steeper end of the price point. The selvage edge which is used is is designed to stop the jeans from naturally fraying which is what happens to denim of an inferior quality over a passage of time.  A continuous cross thread is utilised down the edge of the denim which is passed down the edge of the fabric and stops the fraying from happening.


Hopefully we have shed some light on what can be a quite confusing area of designer clothing and we'll be bringing other such guides to you in the future.