Denimology

The Denim Torturers

The New York Times has an interesting article on an Italian company that specializes in ageing and distressing jeans on behalf of brands such as Levi's, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana and Calvin Klein. The scale of the operation at Martelli Lavorazioni Tessili is vast - they employ 9,000 people to artificially age 120,000 pairs of jeans per day which in 2005 generated revenues of $140million.

Selvedge Denim

It wasn't long ago that selvedge (sometimes spelled selvage) denim was something that only denim trainspotters were aware of. It used to be that if you wanted to get your hands on some selvedge denim you would either have to buy yourself some vintage jeans, or a premium brand such as APC or Nudie or failing that get yourself some jeans from Japan. These days however selvedge denim seems to have gone mainstream and you can now pick it up from J Crew (above left) and Gap (above right). Judging from the pictures the quality isn't as high you would have previously expected of selvedge denim but then again neither is the price, so you can't really complain.

For those of you scratching your heads about what I am talking about here is a definition of selvedge denim courtesy of StyleForum.net - "Selvage is the term commonly used to refer to denim that has been produced on a shuttle loom. Since the amount of fabric produced from a shuttle loom is significantly narrower than a projectile (wide) loom, the cotton consumption is higher and the time required is greater. In selvage jeans, you will see the actual edge of the fabric where the weaving stops and is finished by the loom, as opposed to denim woven on a projectile loom, where the fabric has been cut off at the ends. "

Denim Sales

If you are after a denim bargain then you should check out the denim sales at the following sites:

eLuxury - 40% Off Paper Denim, 40% Off Citizens of Humanity, 30% Off 7 for all Mankind, 30% Off True Religion.

SummerBlu.com - 50% Off Earnest Sewn, 50% Off Blue Cult, 30% Off AG Jeans, 40% Off Chip & Pepper.

Azaleasf.com - 20% Off Page Denim, 20% Off True Religion, 20% Off Loomstate, 15% Off Kasil Denim.

David Bitton Jeans Publicity Coup

David Bitton Jeans is a brand that I hadn't heard of until last week when they managed to grab some great free publicity courtesy of Victoria Beckham. Apparently when Mrs Beckham's stylist rang asking for some jeans she was sent waist sizes 23, 24 and 25. Now guess which size the super skinny footballer's wife kept? It turns out Victoria's waist is only 23 inches, which to put things in perspective is about the same size as a 7 years old childs. Somehow the story found itself leaked to the press who had a nice little frenzy about their "health fears" for Posh and the bad example she is setting, whilst the previously little known denim brand had its profile raised significantly.

Continued (with more photos)...

Free Paper Denim & Cloth Jeans

Apparel-offer.com are one of those dubious sites that claim to give you something for nothing. Normally I wouldn't give such a site a second look but they are claiming to be giving away free Paper Denim & Cloth jeans. If you want to be eligible for their offer you are going to need to sign yourself up for a bunch of other stuff such as "free trial offers, credit cards, free quote requests and other free or low-cost offers". Some of these offers require a small purchase, while others are free trials or free applications which do not require a purchase (and can be cancelled without obligation). Personally I would be very surprised if anyone ever actually received a pair of jeans from such an offer, but you never know. If you do get yourself a free pair of jeans please email me to let me know.

Levi's To Launch Organic Jeans

One of the buzzwords that I keep seeing mentioned by jeans manufacturers is "organic denim". Now you can call me a cynic but I am not sure that this is because these companies actually care about the environment or because they are just looking to hop aboard any passing bandwagon. Levi's are the latest company to announce that they will be including jeans made from 100% organic cotton in their Autumn 2006 product line. These jeans will be known as "Levi's(R) Eco" and will include features such as a natural colored canvas "Levi's(R)" tab and a "Two Horse Patch" made from 100% organic fabric to differentiate them from standard Levi's. One thing I am sure of and that is that anything labelled "organic" is always priced at a premium, so expect to pay more for these jeans that your usual 501s.