Brogger's Quarterly: Raw Denim

These jeans are all from the same French label APC. They are called the New Standard. Now, what's so special about them?

They're in a unique division of denim: raw.

Most of the mainstream are unaware of these raw jean shenanigans. However, to the fashion-conscious, raw denim has a cult following, especially in Japan, where a fine pair of Japanese jeans is the single most valuable item of clothing in a closet. Raw is also synonymous with "dry" for some brands.

You're probably familiar with the term washed denim because you see different "washes" whether it may be called "stone", "sunset", or whatever depending on the brand. So that's exactly it, actually. You already know half the story. Full denim nerd-erature ahead.

The normal jeans you see day-to-day are washed jeans. They come in a washed color, fit-true-to-size, and more or less never shrink. They made fade over time if you wash them 3-4 times a month but it's very slight in most cases. Also, they feel pretty normal as to how denim feels. Rugged, perhaps somewhat soft. Most commercial mainstream jeans are "distressed" to have a certain look, color, softness, and are pre-shrunk in the process.

Dark jeans gradually became the craze for going out at night or for a slim-fitting look. Back in the day (and I mean like probably within the last decade only) people did not used to wash their "dark wash" jeans was because it would gradually turn lighter and lighter, but due to engineering these days dark washes stay dark no matter how much you wash them. Awesome!

So what does this have to do with raw denim? Think opposites.

Raw jeans are made from raw denim - unwashed and untouched straight out of a loom. Denim, as it is manufactured, has a dark shade of indigo (dark blue dye) unless it's black denim.

The result of this is a very nice dark pair of jeans, but due to being unwashed it is very stiff. It's stiffer than you expect due to the starch and/or resin that was used to manufacture the material. On the plus side it gives it a sheen/shine that you don't see in washed denim. However, because it is also unwashed, the indigo will bleed off easily and lose color with washing.

By the way, they don't fit true to size either, completely. Most raw jeans are 100% cotton denim, meaning they will shrink in the waist and inseam when washed. Some brands have chosen to incorporate 2-3% spandex to help the fabric stretch and retain it's shape, but there is still some shrinking involved.

Raw denim jeans sounds pretty terrible by now, right? They're stiff and uncomfortable, don't fit true to size, shrink, and bleed color. Why would I even want these?

Take a look at the picture at the top again. I'm going tell you again they're the same model from the same brand.

What if I told you they're all actually the exact same jean?

The beauty of raw denim lies in the uniqueness of its wash - your own.

Because raw denim is unwashed, it will conform to your body shape and fade based on your body, how much you wear the jeans, what you do in them, and how often you wash them. The color and fading depends on you, and you can truly call them your own because no one else in the world will have the exact same wash.

This is probably expensive, right? Nope. It's actually cheaper than buying "premium" washed denim.

Brand Porn - Ready, Set, Go!

$30 - Levis 501 regular-rise straight leg STF's (Shrink-to-Fits) @ any department store
$35 - Uniqlo slim-fit raws except there's no Uniqlo on the west coast.
$40 - H&M Sliq slim-fit raws
$50 - BDG slim-fit raws @ Urban Outfitters
$60 - Cheap Monday slim-fit raws @ Urban Outfitters / department stores
$80 - Gap low-rise straight-leg 1969 model
$100+ - too many, but recommendations are APC, Nudies, and Levi's LVC if you want to keep within a reasonable price range. Japanese imports upwards of $150+

Denim Terminology and Nerd-erature

Selvage - Take a good look at this over-sized picture. Selvage denim is basically a special type of denim that has stitched edges on the outseam (so on the inside of the leg, confusing huh?) to prevent unraveling or ripping. Back in the day of clothes-making, fabrics would get moved around alot and the edges would get messed up. Selvage edge looms were made to prevent unraveling from the edges. Pretty cool. Selvage denim jeans usually denotes a higher quality of denim because they are cut from these vintage looms.
Hige - Pronounced "hee-gay." Hige or whiskering (you see why?) are lines of fading and also the fading that occurs around the crotch and thigh area. The picture above demonstrates it really well. These lines form by continual creasing of your legs moving when you walk, sit, cross your leg, etc. This is the area that will usually fade first.
Atari - Wait, the video game system? No, it's the lines and fading formed by the creasing of fabric due to pressure exerted on it. Above you can see cases of where atari can occur behind your knees where you bend your legs. It can also happen down near your legs if you are wearing a slim-fit jeans and extra fabric bundles up at the bottom.

Before & After Wash - The Wrap-up
Jean: Levi's LVC 1947 501's
Left: 5 months wear
Right: 20 minute soak in cold water

With only a soak in cold water, not even a wash, you can see a color difference. There's more defined fading in the thigh area and the jeans look lighter overall. If this had gone through a warm wash and a tumble dry in the dryer, you would see more drastic fading, but lose the dark color.

Still interested in being a denimhead? Head over to superfuture: superdenim where you can read up on all things denim and take a look more at the raw denim culture.

Give raw a try! It's not really a hassle if you think of them just as any other pair of jeans you wear, and it's neat making your own wash of jeans. Lot's of people get fed up with the whole maintenance and technicalities of taking care of them.

My advice? Wear them like any other pair of jeans. Don't treat them special in case you "mess them up" or anything. It'll give your raw jeans some character when you finally do soak or wash it. My current pair of raws is going 2 years with 4 washes.

Pictures are courtesy of superfuture:superdenim users.