Raw Indigo Ltd Men's Jeans

Product Information

Raw denim, as a culture, is a movement away from artificial, store-bought fades and towards authentic, personal ones. Raw denim enthusiasts have a reputation for being a bit nutty. This stereotype is perpetuated by the fact that some of them like to store their legwear alongside their ice cream. Now the fun part. Breaking in raw denim isn’t the most pleasant of experiences. Imagine carrying out your day-to-day activities with your legs encased in cardboard and you’ll be halfway there. It’s so grim that A.P.C. even offers ‘Butler’ jeans, which have been broken in by someone else, prior to you buying them.

However, no matter what kind of raw denim jeans you wind up with, they’re bound to fit more tightly than other pairs, as it takes some time to break this rigid material in.There are plenty of faders who only wear their jeans part time and still manage to produce beautiful fades. They make up for their time away from their denim by wrench monkeying in the garage or climbing mountains in every moment of their spare time. They know that great fades won’t come to us. We’ve got to chase them.

At the same time, never washing your jeans can actually weaken the denim. “All of the sweat, oils and dirt that build up on one’s jeans effectively act as sandpaper, wearing down the cotton,” explains Giusti. “We recommend washing one’s jeans as little as you need to, but if they smell bad, you probably need to give them a wash.” However, if you want those coveted high-contrast fades, you should wear them for a minimum of six months before they go anywhere near a wash. This will allow time for creases to form and dye to fade, meaning that when you do finally clean them, they’ll have lost colour in all the right places. If you want to balance longevity and fades, a washing regimen will help you find that balance. We start each pair with an hour-long soak in luke-warm water. The downside to breaking in raw denim jeans is it isn’t the most comfortable process. The jeans will feel stiff on your body and will likely limit your range of motion in a serious way. You may also experience the dye rubbing off or “bleeding” of color. The rigidity of a pair of jeans is one of those differentiating factors that separate denim die-hards from the rest. Of course, almost nothing can beat a great pair of raw denim jeans for those who live for the stiff and structured look. But there are several distinctions in raw denim that make it entirely unique from other styles crafted from 100% cotton. Here to explain are Levi’s director of design innovation, Una Murphy, and Citizens of Humanity’s creative director, Marianne McDonald. What is raw denim, and how does it differ from other types of denim?

What is raw denim, and how does it differ from other types of denim?

If you’ve got a pair of unsanforized (aka ‘shrink to fit’) jeans, they’ll probably shrink at least a full tag size (4-5% in the waist, after you’ve stretched them out again, and as much as 8-9% in length). But heavy pre-distressing – the artfully placed rips and worn patches (artfully placed in identical spots on a thousand pairs, that is) – is best avoided. For one, artificial fading processes have largely been environmentally bad news, not to mention detrimental to the health of the people employed to do the work; that’s why they’re using lasers to achieve the same finish these days. And for two, it rarely looks authentic. Some distressing is done convincingly. Most of it is not – putting fades and rips where they would never occur through actual wear, for example. How Should Raw Denim Jeans Fit? Some denim enthusiasts believe that raw denim jeans should never or rarely be washed, according to Murphy. However, she says excess dirt and bacteria buildup can cause the unwashed fabric to break down and tear if not treated properly. “To keep the color for longer, wash cold on gentle cycle [with] non-bleach detergent, inside out, and line dry. It’s the most environmentally friendly way to wash your jeans [with] the added benefit of extending their life, helping them last longer.” You can go to town on your denim with a scouring pad, sandpaper, or chemical agents. The result might be a pair that looks the part, but you’ve missed the point in a big way. But some people don’t want to wait. It’s for this reason that many kinds of washes (treatments that advance the ageing process) have been developed over the years: stone-washing (so-called because it literally washes the jeans with ground pumice), snow-washing (using acids) and the like.

Hey, no one said it was going to be easy. As you’ve no doubt twigged by this point, doing raw denim properly takes patience, dedication and a surprising amount of knowhow. But if you’re ready to get faded, these are the brands to have on your radar. Edwin There are thousands of dollars worth of prizes, but this is just the gravy. The meat underneath is a tight-knit community of enthusiasts held together by a mutual love of fades. Once again, it’s about striking the balance between extremely crisp fade patterns and clean jeans. If you care more about keeping your jeans dark and your fades crisp, you’ll have to sacrifice cleanliness and longevity.Let’s just say, maybe don’t sit on your friend’s cream boucle sofa when you come over for a glass of wine,” McDonald advises when wearing raw denim. What is the suggested care for raw denim? It should go without saying that skinny jeans will fit much tighter than straight legs, and this is something to keep in mind if you aren’t a fan of wearing restrictive clothing. Tellason jeans are woven in San Francisco, using the finest Cone Mills denim from North Carolina. Even the leather waistband patch is made by Tanner Goods in Oregon. If ever there was a pair of all-American jeans, this is probably it.