Denim was originally made by a guy called Serge who made it in a place called Nimes in France. The name of the fabric was originally called ‘Serge de Nimes’ (Serge from Nimes).
de + Nimes = denimes = denim. Geddit?
This is my life documented through denim over the last few years. My interest in selvedge (self-edged/uncut) denim came about when I decided that wearing jeans with a wash that was based on a guy much taller than me put me off the hefty price tag that came with them. Selvedge denim is one of those beautiful things in life that get better with age.
Imperial Kings: indigo
I first came about Imperials when Ben and Nick (who would later go on to
open the apartment store in Brisbane) came in wearing them. I had never
seen them before and inquired about what they were. Soon enough, I was
contacted by Imperial to stock them- I bought a skeleton range, which
sold out in no time. I also broke in a pair; and what a joy it was. They
were probably one of the easiest and fastest pairs to break in. They
only took about five months to produce visible contrasting wear marks,
which was surprising seeing as though they were a baggy jean.
I’m super stoked that this Australian company is doing good things, and
the quality within the jean is really sound. It has felled hems on all
stitches, which boasts awesome Australian craftsmanship. Funnily enough I
was offered $500 for these jeans once they had worn in. Upon
consideration of the time I had spent over those six months to get them
to that point, it was really not worth the money!
Levi's: LVC 1920’s 201
We managed to score ourselves the highly sought after LVC account, which was at the time the only thing on offer in terms of raw denim. It included the famous 1947 501xx and the 1920s 201. My Levi’s rep flipped me a pair of the 201s to mess around with and see how much shrinkage would affect the jean. I put the jeans through the washer and dryer to gauge exactly how much they shrink. Again, I 'wasted' another pair of jeans in terms of being able to break them in to my satisfaction. However, before treating the jeans to the shrinkage onslaught, I did attach some safety pins and a vintage key to the back pockets leaving a nice little effect on them.
The 1920s 201 had awesome characteristics like the suspender button attachments found on the waistband and had a light blue selvedge, which was different to the usual red selvedge that Levi’s typically used.
Imperial Dukes: black
I’ve only ever seen two pairs of the blacks worn into a decent mark, the first being on the Superfuture forum, and the second being one of my homies who wore his jeans daily through winter and summer riding his motorbike and his BMX... I thought I would be able to achieve something similar, but was bitterly disappointed after eight months of constant wear and only a slight contrast in the denim.
One drunken night I was also spear tackled in a rumble with my other homie, Simon, and managed to rip a massive tear from the crotch to the knee... The embroidery stitch never looked so good!
Levi's: 1967’s 505
Probably one of my favourite jeans EVER... I was super excited when these were on offer and immediately took to customising a pair that I was going to wear. I stitched in turquoise highlights and rocked these suckers for nine months before giving them their first wash. At the time, I came about the samurai denim detergent and although it had a peculiar smell, the visual results were quite amazing.
Those vertical wear lines on the jean were NOT intended and were a result of not rushing to the washing machine fast enough when it began the spin cycle. Sometimes when in spin the denim creases on itself producing those 'scars'... Usually, I pull out the jeans from the washing machine before the spin cycle when they are still dripping wet.
Levi's: 1967’s 505 (the sequel)
I took to another pair of 505s this time with more tailoring and customising. I took the jean in to make it a lot more slim. I also took to all parts of the jean with turquoise stitching. Taking the jean in to a slimmer line increased the amount of honeycombs on the back of the knees, and also produced 'sharper' wears. Because they were slimmer, when I was riding my BMX the crotch busted up pretty big… Which was duly repaired again with turquoise stitching.
Evisu: slims
I made the terrible mistake of wearing these suckers to bed. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but in the end, the rigidness of the denim was made void and hence the eventual wear marks were not as defined as they could be. I also learned that washing them with a spin cycle could sometimes add unwanted markings on the denim.
Evisu: no.2
When I found these broken twill bad-boys in Hong Kong, featuring teal seagulls on the back pockets, they were simply a must have. I get a hard-on for things teal coloured. I gave these suckers a soak, and again like the previous Evisus I owned, it made the denim a lot softer and hence made them harder to wear in. I eventually gave up. More recently, I decided that my love for them was too great, so I tailored them and took to them with sandpaper and denim rocks… I took the natural creasing as a basis for the applied wear marks: the only thing that needs doing now is the honeycombs of the back of the knees.