Denimandjeans | Global Trends, News and Reports | Worldwide

Category: Denim Trends

  • Denim dos and don’ts – check before buying jeans

    Do questions like these come in your mind while buying jeans

    Can everyone wear Skinny Jeans?

    How low should be low rise jeans?

    Should I buy high-waisted jeans as it seems to be coming in trend?

    Is there a style of jeans that is universally flattering?

    How can I pull off a dress and jeans look?

    Is grey denim a do or don’t?

    Then check out this video and see what Jess Zaino- style expert has to say about these
    and more of such questions.

    Visit this video link     http://www.videojug.com/interview/dos-and-donts-for-denim

  • ‘Denim’,’Premium Denim’ search trend on Google

    Google Trends is a very interesting service from Google which enables us to find what is the trend for search on particular keywords.
    I checked the trends for search on two keywords – Denim and Premium Denim..
    The results are interesting:

    1)Search trend for ‘Denim’:

    a)The search volume for the keyword ‘Denim’ is almost the same since 2004. However, it peaked in the
    year 2005 (when Denim was on a high).
    b)The country from where the highest search for ‘Denim’ originated was , understandably, USA.
    But it was surprising to see Australia coming at number 2 position in ALL TIME Search for ‘Denim’.
    Wow, I did’nt realize that Australians were so fond of Denims.
    2)Search Trend for ‘Premium Denim’

    a)Before the year 2007 , there was hardly any volume of search for ‘Premium Denim’. Though the Premium Denim trend had started in 2004 or before, the general public really got sucked in the trend as late as 2007 only.Hence we can also see a large number of new Premium Denim labels spring up in the last 2 years..
    b)Again, its the USA which tops the list for the search.However,the second place is taken by CANADA . No doubt, we can see a lot of Canadian Premium Labels springing up !! .. Austalia is again third indicating its strong affiliation to Denim..

  • Denim Mills-Worldwide (India,China,Turkey,Pakistan & more)

    I often need to check out various Denim Mills around the world – just to see what they are doing. It was a painful task to keep track of their web addresses and then individually search their sites and the web. Now I have found a very easy and clean way to checkout all these mills around the world in a few minutes.
    Visit this List of Denim Mills Worldwide and you will see the site of Cone Denim of US opened. You can easily browse through the site. Now, you will see NEXT button on the top left . Click on the same and you will see site of another Denim Mill from USA. Also below the TITLE (on the blue frame) there is written the country name – USA. When we click on this, the names of other countries slide down. One can easily select any country name and the DENIM MILL sites of that country will start opening.
    What if I want to see which companies are covered from one country ?
    Easy… Just click on the TITLE and you will see slide down of names of companies in that country and one can click on any name and open their site..
    I could cover Denim Mills from many countries like Turkey, Italy, USA,Spain, India, Pakistan, China,Taiwan,Hongkong, Japan, Bangladesh etc etc.. I think its really cool.. Would be good to have comments of the readers.
    Also don’t forget to open the category of DENIM TRENDS (which will come alongwith the country list) to see the latest trends in Denim.
    And for those looking for some Buyers of Denim and Buyers of Jeans , click accordingly..

    Note: Click on the category name to open other categories. Also,click on TITLE to see other links in that category. Eg if you see ‘USA denim mills ‘ category, click on the same to reach the companies in other countries. OR JUST KEEP ON CLICKING NEXT..

    Alternatively you can just check the Denim Mills Directory

  • Organic Denim trend picking up?

    Organic is in..
    Organic clothes is getting more and more popular as environmental conciousness is increasing and the ‘return to nature’ sentiment gets stronger.I think its a very healthy direction for the fashion to take..
    Organic denim is not to be left behind – in fact with denim consuming almost 17% of world cotton, it is imperative that a part of denim production moves on the Organic route.I had mentioned in my previous post regarding organic denims..
    Just giving herebelow links to some of the good organic denim jeans produced worldwide:

    Nudie Jeans: Besides organic cottons, they are using potato starch,natural indigo etc to make their Organic Denims. It was good to get some figures from them about damage by normal cotton “Denim is made of cotton, which causes great damage to our environment both in terms of water consumption (7000 to 29.000 litres of water for each kilogram of ready garment) and in terms of poisonous substances and insecticides. Cotton fields stand for 25% of all insecticides worldwide!”

    Loomstate::Loomstate is a brand that is proud of its Organic roots . They use only organic cotton and show here how they do their organic cotton:.
    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTw5bfT-hXg&rel=1]

    Levi’s Eco: Levi’s also started its Eco line in the Fall 2006 and seems to be getting a good response to its Organic denims. They are primarily using Organic Cotton for these denims and this is what they have to say about the organic cotton used in these jeans”Organic farming practices can be used to grow natural fibers including cotton as well as food. Organic cotton farming starts with seeds that have not been genetically modified or treated with pesticides or fungicides. During the growth phase, weed control is achieved through hand hoeing or physical removal and pest control is accomplished through the use of natural predators, trap crops and other biological and cultural practices. Farmers rely on natural processes such as seasonal freezes, rather than the application of chemical defoliants, to prompt the opening of the cotton boll and allow the cotton bud to be picked by hand or machine”

    7forallmankind : Sevens has just launched its Yosemite collection of Organic denims.7 For all Mankind’s first organic denim, the Yosemite is a non-stretch fabrication with subtle indigo fading weaved throughout the front and rear..Looks cool..

    Sharkah Chakra : Though a relatively less known brand and available in London (Harvey Nicolas) and Paris,they take the concept of ‘organic’ a step further. They make a complete Organic Jeans ie everything from Cotton to dyes to weaving(on handlooms) . The process of producing one jeans is quite long – but the results are good..Worth checking out..

    Sling & Stones : This Japanese brand uses Peruvian handpicked organic cotton – converted to Japanese Supima Denim,Dyed with natural Indigo and washed in environment friendly ozone washes.And thrown in the package are 24carat gold rivets and embroidery..Whew!

  • Jeans down – Trousers Up ?

    Further to my previous post on the fall in imports of Men’s and Boys Jeans in US, there is further news coming about the fall in sales of Men’s Jeans. As per NPD (in New York times), the sale of men’s Jeans has fallen by 1% for the year ending in August 2007 – and this has happened first time after years of rising sales. And who has benefited from this fall in sales ?
    It is the TROUSERS – which has shown an increase of 7% in sales. New York times says that Men are now getting more interested in Trousers – which can set them apart from being just another Jeans guy..
    The Denims reign the fashion world like no other product can and it would be difficult to dethrone it. But there is a saturation level even for Denims and people may go for a break and flirt with other products. And this may cause chinks in the armour of Denim..

  • Craziest looking jeans

    I have seen many crazy kind of Jeans but this one beats them all..How would people look walking around in them? Found them herecrazy-jeans.jpg
    But frankly, I won’t be surprised if these get picked up as a fashion trend by some crazy teenagers..

  • What makes premium denims in L.A tick?

    Often people wonder why of all the places Los Angeles became the Premium Denim capital of the world. How did the process of globalisation reverse in case of premium denims where the production sent overseas came back to US ?
    L.A had a very developed denim production and large scale productions were done for companies like Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, Pepe,Abercombie & Fitch,Calvin Klein etc..
    Alongwith stitching, the facilities for washing and designing were quite developed.. However, as the orders for mass productions started going overseas, the producers were left with little choices . They had to either shut down or change the way they did business. Fortunately for them, Japan had revived the concept of Antique/Heritage denim where they were trying to replicate the Jeans from the 40s to 70s..
    The concept was picked up by L.A manufacturers and they focused themselves on making small quantities of high priced Premium Denims.. All the infrastructure was in place(see this article by NY times)
    The machine processes started getting replaced by hand processes (esp in washing). Companies like CAITAC GARMENT PROCESSING – which used to wash jeans for USD2 in bulk, started getting paid upto USD 30 for washing premium denims..Their sand blasting machines got replaced with various other alternative processes like balooning or small instruments which involved much more human touch – whether to create whiskers , distressed looks etc..Garment processors like Caitac became favourites of Premium denim companies like Sevens,Earl jeans,Earnest Sewn,True Religion etc..Later even Levi’s had to turn to Caitac to develop its premium denim line..

    Now most of the premium denim labels outsource their stitching and washing .. They focus on marketing and use companies like Caitac to do all their work..

    Now coming back to our question on why L.A became the Premium Denim capital :- It is because of availability of all infrastructure mentioned above . The companies could easily outsource their highly labour and specialised activities.. Biggest of all , there was a ready market nearby which was fired up with the Premium Denim trend …What other ingredients can one ask for to make a success of a business???

    Also check out this interesting Audio slide from NY times on L.A Denim

    la-denim-washing.jpg

  • Jeans dyed 48 times in Natural Indigo

    Can you believe that Denim can be dyed 48 TIMES ??

    Well, seeing is believing. Here are some snaps from Kappa Jeans which claims to dye their Denims 48 times in NATURAL INDIGO..See here

    kappa-jeans-48-times-dyed-natural-indigo3.jpeg

    kappa-jeans-48-times-dyed-natural-indigo.jpeg

    and here
    kappa-jeans-48-times-dyed-natural-indigo2.jpeg

    But whatever may be the actual number of dips in Indigo, the Denim is Really Cool..

    Related Posts:
    Natural Indigo Dye Extraction Process

  • Persimmon Juice Denim??

    Ever hear of Persimmon Juice Denim ?
    Persimmon – tanin dyeing is a Japanese dyeing and is called Kaki – Shibu Dyeing.
    Persimmon is an extremely bitter kind of fruit and its juice is full of dark brown tanin which is used in place of Indigo for dyeing the cotton.
    When the denim is dyed with this juice , it achieves dark brown color. This color tends to darken with oxidation and thus the Jeans will darken with time.

    Some Japanese brands like Samurai make these kind of jeans, though in limited edition only..
    Some interesting snaps of such jeans are given below :

    persimmon-juice-denim.jpeg

    THE DENIM FABRIC WITH KAKI-SHIBU DYEING

    persimmon-juice-denim1.jpeg

  • Grungy Denim . A new trend for 2008?

    There have been some forecasts that a new trend for Spring/Summer 2008 may be the GRUNGY DENIM..….
    These Jeans basically have a patchy high contrast bleached look – the 80s punk look.
    Though this washing style has not been noticed in many brands, there are some points that merit attention:
    a)The current trends in denim looks the world over follow from the Premium Denim brands. These brands are basically encashing their expertise in providing a high quality fabric, washed and sanded nicely(many times hand sanded) and with some standout embellishments like Pocket designing etc. Of course the importance of FIT can never be forgotten as one of their primary strengths.
    b)These trends are being followed in some measure by other manufacturers around the world – who are also trying to provide the similar jeans at a lower cost.
    c)In the last 1-2 years there has been no distinctive denim look which has come in and the current washes and looks are getting somewhat jaded and there is a need for something fresh.

    Thus there IS A NEED for some FRESH LOOK IN DENIMS. However, whether that will be GRUNGY LOOK or something else remains to be seen..I feel that a look similar to GRUNGY may come in provided it is MORE ELEGANT looking and does not give the PUNKISH or a CHEAP look. Designed Patchiness or GRUNGINESS (nice terminology i think !) may be considered an option for the next year.
    Some Grungy Jeans from Cheap Monday ….
    cheap-monday-grungy-denim.jpggrungy-denim.jpggrungy-denim1.jpg

  • Fall 2007 Denim trends – Wide legged and Skinny Jeans

    Denim for fall 2007 is going to be a story of two extreme styles – Skinny and Wide Legged . Skinny jeans has been in for quite some time with various celebrities including Kate Moss endorsing the same. Now Kate Moss , Lindsay Lohan, Naomi Campbell, Angela Basset and others have been seen in Wide Legged Jeans(see my previous post).
    However, wide legged jeans is going to have more appeal as it can fit a larger range of bodies and is a fresh look since it has not been around quite a while. It is also expected that both the trends will go on simultaneously and skinny jeans is not going to fade away so easily.

    Among the Wide legged Jeans there can be a simple Casual style and a Trouser style. Both are same silhouette but with different details. Trouser style has slash pockets and trouser style waistband and crease whereas the Casual will be much more casual.
    Wide legged jeans are not and neither expected to be Distressed. They are very clean and flat – an indication of influence of 70s……
    The CLEAN and FLAT look required for Wide Legged Jeans may create further demand for the already popular FLAT FINISH DENIMS (mercerised).. Washing treatments may be less rigorous thus saving the manufacturers some bucks ( which they will spend on the extra fabric they use !)
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    Related Posts:
    Skinny Jeans from Topman
    Skinny Jeans coming back?[ad#for-post-top-1]

  • Selvedge Denim and Loop Dyeing..

    What is Selvedge/Selvage Denim ?
    selvage-denim.jpg
    Selvage Denim is the denim made on Old Style Shuttle Looms rather than the modern shuttleless looms. Simply stated it is ‘Self – Edge’ denim which is created since the Weft goes back and forth as a single thread rather than individual threads for each weft weave..As the weft loops back from the end, it creates a ‘Selvage’. Traditionally the denim made on the Shuttle Looms was so narrow that about 3 yards were required to make a jeans. To maximize fabric consumption, the jeans makers used the Selvage also which can be seen when the Jeans is turned up.The color of the thread in the Selvage was used to differentiate between fabrics. True Vintage Jeans can be recognised by the Selvage thread.

    Traditionally , American Denim was considered superior. However, the Americans replaced all their Shuttle Looms by faster looms. Many of these looms were bought by Japanese who felt that there was a market for Traditional Denim. And when the Premium Denim craze began after 2000, many Jeans manufacturers introduced the Jeans made from Shuttle looms and Quality Dyeing .. . Quality Dyeing?
    Quality Dyeing is Indigo Dyeing done using Loop Dyeing machines – which are themselves rare and vintage machines. The Rope of Cotton Yarn goes through a Vat of Indigo and then is taken to the ROOF of the factory where it is allowed to oxidize and then brought back to dip. Some companies do as many as 30 DIPS creating a rich blue Indigo character.
    Another traditional thing that goes in the process of creating a Traditional Premium Denim is the Chain Stitch at the leg opening – which gives a thick stitch line at the hem.

    Denim produced on Shuttle Looms is naturally irregular . Accompanied with the additional details in dyeing and stitching, it produces a unique product and as the Jeans age, they produce a unique pattern. Like Fine Wood, Selvage denim will become more beautiful with age and acquire a patina which is impossible to create artificially.
    Many of the Japanese Denim brands are using Selvage Denim. The most famous of them is EVISU. Their HERITAGE Collection is made entirely of Selvage Denim only , produced on 30″ looms and dyed by LOOP Dyeing method. With a minimum of 16 dips, they go upto 30 dips . For Chain stitching, they use the ‘Union Special Machines’ which are considered to be the ‘ROLLS ROYCE’ of stitching machines in 1950s..

    Heritage Jeans - EVISU