Denim!

Denim 101

Jeans are the most commonly worn casual pants in the modern day. It was invented back in 1873 by Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis, originally designed for rugged work but is now a US$15billion business in America.

Dry Denim

Dry denim are also known as, raw, unwashed or untreated denim, which we may take a while to get used to it as they're a little rougth on the skin.

Easily identified by their deep indigo colour with no signs of distress. A pair of dry denim will fade, fit your body contours and distress according to how you move and what you carry in your pockets creating a unique, natural look.

Dry Denim Care

The trick is to wear it for 6 months before washing, unless you really soiled them, to ensure they are properly broken into. After your first wash, the creases will be displayed perfectly, uniquely. With proper care, the jeans should last as long as you do. This may sound awfully disgusting, but airing them in the sun should be good enough to last them till their first wash.

Washing of Dry Denim

Different brands have differnt instructions, some may recommend hot washes to define the creases, where as others recommend cold washes with no detergent. Below are recommended washing techniques by french brand A.P.C.

• Extremist recipe: Let your jeans get dirty for as long as possible. First wash: dry clean. following washes: soak your jeans for about an hour in water with a little WOOLITE BLACK added, rinse, roll in a terrycloth towel and hang up to dry
• Semi-extremist recipe: Soak your jeans for about an hour in water with WOOLITE BLACK added, don't scrub, rinse, wring and hang up to let water drain.
• Machine recipe: Machine wash at 30degrees celcius, delicate cycle, no spin cycle, with WOOLITE BLACK.
• Seawater recipe: Lets your jeans get dirty for as long as possible, go swimming in the ocean wearing your jeans, rub your jeans with dry sand and repeat several times. rinse in fresh water and let them dry in the sun.

Selvage Denim

Selvage denim is a form of denim that forms a clean edge and does not fray at its ends. It is popular among designer and premium brands for its durability.

Our current modern jeans are made via projectile looms, which are faster and requires less fabric per jeans. With seperate threads, rather then a continuous one, projectile weavings leave the edges frayed requiring stitching to be done to its length. The result, a lighter denim that is much less durable.

What makes selvage denim unique and expensive is due to the fact that they are made on traditional shuttle looms. Shuttle looms weave a narrower fabric, increasing the amount of fabric required per pair of jeans. To reduce wastage, jean makers use the fabric all the way to their edge which can be seen when the cuff is turned up. Selvage denim typically weights around 13Oz.

Notes

Dry denim and selvage normally come hand in hand, you want something that can last long enough for you to imprint those beautiful natural creases. Below are some of the premium brands that carry selvage raw denims.

• Evisu
• Neighborhood
• Levis
• Nudie Jeans
• Sugar Cane
• Flat head
  

Leather!

Leather 101

This post will guide you on how to tell quality of leather, types of leather and how they cheat. you'll soon understand why some leathers are priced highly and why some are more durable then others.

Steps of how leather is made:

1. Cow is skinned and hide is taken to a tannery where excess meat, fat and hair are removed.


2. Moisture, oils and natural preservatives are extracted and the leather will be in a state known as wetblue.


3. The wet blue hides are dumped in a giant drum where new oils, preservatives and colouring are introduced and left till the liquids penetrates all the way to the middle/


4. The leathers are then pressed in heated presses, hung up at controlled humidity level, sprayed with finishes and sealers before being pressed again.

Cheating!:

Some tanneries try to make as much money, therefore they cut the tumbling times by up to 90%. This not only allow them to tan more leather, but also reduces the amount of oil, colours and preservatives used. Suc leathers will fade and crack easily.

A good way to tell its quality is to look at its seams and needle marks. If they are of differnt colour, they are surfaced dyed merely to cover up the leathers defects. If they are the same colour, they are anline-dyed where the oil and preservatives pentrates fully. However its hard to tell simply cos most companies will fold, sew or paint their edges

Leather Types

Generally, theres 4 grades of leather that can be attained from a single hide, they are commonly available in our markets. Definetly there are other forms of leather, but this are the main 4.

Full Grain Leather:

• Best form money can buy, coming from the top of the hide where the grains are retaining strength and durability. Plus the grain also has breathability and rather then wearing out it will create a patina over time.


• It also refers to hides that have not been sanded, buffed. It retains all the natural imperfections on the animal, which are considered desirable as it gives the product more character. This kind of scarring however are not common on cow leather as cows are more gentle creatures as opposed to pigs.

Top Grain Leather:

• 2nd best grade of leather, its fibres are more horizontal as compared to full grain making them more pliable and pulled apart. The surfaces are sanded to remove scars and scrapes thus removing the strong fibres and a finish coat added removing its breathability, and giving it a plastic feel.


• However it has a greater resistance to stains as long as the finish coat remains.

Genuine Leather:

• Most common form of leather available in our market, but its 3rd grade and produced from the layers of the hide that remains after the tops are splited of for the better grades. generally its painted to resemble a higher grade. Suede is also an example of genuine leather, however they do have a full grain grade that resembles suede which is also known as nubuck.

Bonded Leather:

• Made from left over junks composing of 90%-100% leather fibers bonded together with latex binders to create a look and feel that is simliar to leather. It is not durable and is reccomended only for use on products that are not frequently used, ex. bible covers.

Threading and Seams

Threads:

• Cotton: ($1.5/km) rots with moisure and low abrasion resistance. Turns to ash when burned.
• Nylon: ($3/km) standard for sewing of leather products. Made of thousands of nylon strands that can be rubbed apart and detoriates in direct sunlight. Balls up when burned.
• Polyester: ($10/km) thread used for making airbags and all weather gear. Its 4 times as strong as nylon
• Sinew:(>$50/km) made from tendons and used during pre-industrial eras as tough durable fibre for sewing and lashing of tool blades to shafts. It is incredibly strong, contains natural glues and shrinks as it dries doing away with the need for knots.

Seams

The fewer the seams the stronger the leaher, it is cheaper to use many small pieces as it reduces wastage.

This is just a rough guide on leathers and i hoped it helps you when you purchase your next leather product. There are many other forms of leather out there, ostrich(the ones with the goose bumps) crocs etc and many forms of leather tanning like chrom-tanned and vegetable-tanned.