Category: Denim Trends

‘Kato’ – Original Denim from Japan

I just do not seem to be stopping to write about Japanese denim. There actually is so much to learn from them that it feels great to write about them.
‘Kato’ is a brand from Japan which is making special Natural Jeans. Their Jeans are made from Zimbabwe Cotton and are dyed by the ‘Hank System’ in natural indigo . This is the oldest system of dyeing cotton in Indigo in which the yarn spends one day in dyeing to the core and another day is spent hanging in a steam room.. The Denim is then woven on 32″ slow shuttle looms ..The jeans are hand riveted and details hand stitched..
All these slow processes add up to the cost a lot . However, Connoiseur items are not made easily and by everyone and are also not affordable by everybody (prices in range about USD 300)..
ANd the looks are COOL…..

By the way, pertinent to mention that Hiroshi Kato of ‘Kato’ also designed some selvedge denim for Arvind in India..

July 30, 2007
Old Navy – Fall 2007 Denim Collection – Latest trends in Denim

Old Navy debuts its Fall 2007 line in stores featuring various striking trends.

Color Denim:
As I previously mentioned , Color Denim trend is likely to be picked up by various brands. Old Navy is offering its skinny denims in crimson red, yellow, gunmetal grey, cobalt blue, and pastel purple(USD 29.50) .
A complete antithesis of skinny jeans is the Wide Legged denim – which is also being taken up
in a small way. The jeans are priced at USD 34.50 .. Wide legged jeans trend is not expected to grow as big as skinny jeans , simply because wide legged jeans can be carried by very few females(normally) gracefully.

New Fits
Old Navy aims to introduce three new fits :

Diva – sexy low rise waist and body hugging .
Flirt – Classic fit with a medium rise
Sweetheart – Casual fit and high rise

It remains to be seen whether the customers find these fits novel or they are just novel names…

Old Navy is a division of Gap Inc and brings customers on-trend apparel and accessories at amazing prices, all in a fun and energizing shopping environment.
Gap Inc. is a leading international specialty retailer offering clothing, accessories and personal care products for men, women, children and babies under the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Piperlime brand names. Fiscal 2006 sales were $15.9 billion. Gap Inc. operates more than 3,100 stores in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Ireland and Japan

July 18, 2007
Xfit Lycra and Black lycra for denims

Two new innovations from LYCRA are expected to give a great fillip to the usage of lycra in Denims and add value to the denim garments.

Xfit Lycra: Xfit lycra is a latest patented technology which allows 360 degree movement in the fabric besides fabric stability and shape retention.All this allows a user to move in any way. How would this help the denim garment manufacturers??
The manufacturers will be able to produce garments for a wider range of buyers. Currently stretch garments are mainly limited to the Ladieswear and Childrenwear. Xfit may help in increasing the usage of stretch garments by Men also.. Let’s wait and watch how the brands are able to encash this development.

Black lycra fibre: A very interesting development for the Denim and the Lingerie Industry.. What traditionally happens is that when stretch fibres are used in the garments and they are washed repeatedly, the strech fibre shows up due to discoloration.
With the Black lycra fibre, the black and dark garments will remain dark even after washes(provided the other fibres in the fabric do not lose color)..
This fibre would be very useful for the Dark and Natural denim garments and help them to remain darker for a longer period. Some of the ladies Stretch Jeans may even end up looking a little darker(if designed so)..

On the whole it is a good news for the denim industry …

June 19, 2007
Colored Jeans – spreading out further

As I mentioned before, colored jeans is catching up as a trend in the Jeans’ Fashion this year.
Quite a number of International celebrities,including Ashley Simpson and Rachel Bilson, are seen endorsing this trend by wearing these jeans.. (see below)
But will this trend be picked up by the masses ? There are very good possiblities as the fatigue factor for the BLUE DENIM may cause a temporary shift to other colors.. Lets wait and see..

Source:Denimology
Update:8th August 2008
I agree with Alpesh, ( in comments) that the color denim would use more of reactive dyed colors rather than sulphur dyed.

April 16, 2007
More of wide Legged Jeans

The wide legged jeans , especially from J Brand are being worn by more and more of celebrities .

Last couple of weeks have seen celebs like Naomi Campbell and Angela Basset , among others, have been seen wearing wide legged jeans.

But can’t really understand whether the ladies are really comfortable in these wide legged jeans. But who cares – its the Fashion that matters..

April 6, 2007
High waisted jeans – more celebs wearing it

As I mentioned one of my previous posts, high-waisted jeans seem to be becoming popular with the celebrities. However, the difference is that while some of them have gone for a combination of High Waist Jeans with wide legs, others have gone for Skinny High Waist jeans.
Jennifer Lopez has been spotted with a skinny jeans in high waist(see below)

I personally prefer the skinny to the wide legged ones as wide legged ones are too difficult to carry with grace and very few women can do it.

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April 6, 2007
Will the high waisted jeans catch up?

Kate Moss has been seen wearing high waisted flares in the London Fashion Week late last year and this has been followed up by some other celebrities. Is it the beginning of this trend in the West?
The problem , however, with this trend would be that high waisted jeans are very difficult to pull off and slight miscalculation in size can leave one looking very badly dressed.

March 25, 2007
Skinny Jeans coming back?

If we go by the dressing of some Celebrities in Hollywood, it looks like Skinny Jeans (skin tight jeans) with high heels are coming back. Nicole Ritchie and Hillary Duff have been spotted recently in these skinny jeans alongwith some other celebrities.

March 25, 2007

US Denim Wardrobe

The US Denim Wardrobe
	Women	Men
No. of Denim Jeans	7.9	8.1
No. of Denim Shorts	3.5	2.8
No. of Denim Jackets	1.1	1
No. of Denim Shirts	2	2.4
No. of Denim Dresses	1.1
No. of Denim Skirts	1.4
No. of Denim Overalls	0.8	1
	17.7	15.2

Source : Cotton Incorporated

The US always tends to lead in denim consumption, though there are exceptions in countries like Brazil , which are also heavy consumers. The Wardrobe of an average American Men has 15.5! Denim Clothes and that of an American Women about 17.7(women always tend to lead in denim purchase).

This trend of increasing denim consumption has witnesssed various ups and downs but the basic trend is always positive , thus showing the remarkable resilience of Denim.

Cool……

Sandeep

March 25, 2007