Selvedge Denim Guide

WHATS THE FUSS about SELVEDGE DENIM ?

 

Firstly let’s get one thing straight........Selvedge Denim is often confused with Raw Denim. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Raw denim is denim that has not been through a washing process or treatment after making the garment. You will usually find this on most well-known high street brands where the fabric has been woven on projectile looms, generally 60" wide, and produced on a massive scale.

SELVEDGE DENIM is woven on old 28" / 30" shuttle looms, (half the width of the standard projectile loom and thus taking much longer to weave) Using this process, the edge of the fabric is closed to prevent it from fraying or unravelling and has many different coloured lines that run along the outside of the seam. Sometimes you can even identify the brand of jeans by the colours of the selvedge

Japanese selvedge denim is renowned for its high premium quality and heavier weight fabric, up to 28oz per square yard, and is recognized as the best premium denim fabric on the planet. While this may be true, there are many other Mills out there producing some real high end quality selvedge fabric,  which i will come to shortly. 

Just because it says Japanese Selvedge Denim, this does not necessarily mean that it is any good or of a higher quality than any other. This is where the years of experience & knowledge of the designer kicks in. For me, having worked in the field since the mid 80s when there were no computers or internet for research and so making a few mistakes by trial and error, I have found that the mills I now work with, (and have done for some time), make some pretty awesome denim collections that produce the most exciting and innovative fabrics on the planet.

 

Here we have an 11.5 oz Raw Selvedge Denim that was specifically produced for us by BLUE SELVEDGE ( BERTO GROUP) with our own selvedge colours in RED & GOLD. This is what we consider to be our entry level denim - while our 13.5oz Zimbabwe Cotton from the Nihon Menpu Mill in Japan is our most prestigious fabric to date. This isn’t merely because it is from Japan, it’s the fact that it is the rarest cotton available and renowned worldwide for its long staple and fades.

This is our 13.5oz Japanese Selvedge Denim from the Nihon Menpu Mill.

US Denim was at the forefront of the Selvedge Denim Market for many years, with the CONE DENIM MILL from Greensboro, North Carolina in existence since 1891 and especially the WHITE OAK Division servicing LEVIS with a good chunk of their fabric until its demise in early 2018.

In our opinion, Premium Raw Selvedge Denim, although more expensive than your average high street selvedge denim is the best money can buy. It lasts longer and you get better fades, therefore in the long run it becomes cheaper and a much wiser investment.

 Our Mills

(Japan)

Nihon Menpu

Collect

Kurabo

Kuroki

(UK)

Hewitt Fabrics

 

Woven in Lancashire, this is the only Selvedge Denim producer in the UK.

At the end of the day though it’s all down to the individual’s preference.

And in our experience, the most discerning individuals prefer Joe & Co.