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Selvedge denim, Long an underground denim-head’s whispered secret, has now made a triumphant return and gone main stream. Yes, even if you never noticed that white seam exposed on an upturned cuff, you have probably heard of it. What started as a jean phenomenon in the early '90s with cult jean makers like Evisu, has now reached the masses with help in part from retailers like J.Crew’s selvedge brand. For a better understanding on its importance, it helps to think of selvedge denim like an estate wine with limited bottling and distribution, an indigo brew of sorts. Traditionally peddled to men only, selvedge is now finding a home in a woman’s closet as much as a man’s thanks in part to the boyfriend jean trend. The name in itself has significance, as it means self-edge, referring to the way the fabric is woven. Selvedge, was traditionally made with shuttle looms which passed a continuous thread back and forth, where the white thread looped back into the blue, a solid, white edge was formed. The shuttle looms were sold off to the Japanese in the 1950s/60s and ceased production here. This of course explains the cult-like following of the thick, rough-hewn Japanese denim that has global retailers making pilgrimages to denim shrine Hinoya Plus Mart in Tokyo. What is even better than that? Zappos carries it. Yay! Couture’s pick: Evisu Embroidered Brush Stroke Jean.

Tags: fashion, jeans, denim, shopping, selvedge_denim, evisu, evisu_denim, japanese_denim

Comments

ZC25157 05 Dec 08 at 09:01PM

Wow.. great research you did there.
The selling off of the looms is a myth, created by Yamane in the early 90's to sell his early Japanese repro jeans as marketing hype. It was a brilliant plan as his company went on to be a very successful denim company, too bad it's been watered down ever since.
Also, your pick was a pair of Evisu jeans?
Really?

ZC25157 05 Dec 08 at 09:05PM

Another note...
At least when Yamane started the myth of the looms being sold off he told magazines and the press that they were sold off in the 70's..
You said the 50's.. That's hilarious because in reality, how did the American mills continue to manufacture selvedge denim through the 60's up until the early 70's then?

Email me, we'll talk.

Stephanie R. 06 Dec 08 at 04:11AM

Actually, I said the '50s/'60s and the date my sources gave was 1969, not 1970 for the stopping of its production. The pick of Evisu is due to the company using a rougher cotton textile and is a selvedge-esque style and it is a brand that Zappos carries. If I were naming sources of Selvedge I would name perhaps Sugar Cane or Levi Strauss from the '40s, or at the very least the reissued vintage Levi's under the Its Levi Vintage label.

Stephanie R. 06 Dec 08 at 04:55AM

According to H. Yamane's PR, he started his company in 1988 not the '90s. The demand for his vintage denim took off in the '90s, making the original Evisu styles a cult hit and in great demand. There is lots of information out there, one of them being the myth about the myth being started by Yamane. There is space in the name above, it should read Sugarcane.

ZC25157 06 Dec 08 at 05:57AM

There was no exact date of the halting of the production of selvedge denim in Ameica... Did you realize that there are mills such as Cone Mills that NEVER stopped making selvedge They started 100 years ago, and they still to this very day produce selvedge denim.

Also, Sugar Cane in the 1940's? What are you talking about.. They didn't produce their first jean until 1965, and that was only a contract job, they didn't start to produce jeans for themselves under their own name till the 1980's.

Yamane, started Evisu in the late 80's but didn't start the rumor till 1991... He was exiled from Japan for a few years due to tax evasion and while living in Hong Kong really kicked up the hype machine that by the time he returned to Japan Evisu was running full force.

Stephanie R. 06 Dec 08 at 08:49AM

Again thank you for all of your information. I am aware of American Mills that still make all types of denim. There are however several sources of information both online and news services offline that mention the halting of production, as well as a time period. Several American companies got rid of the shutter looms in favor of more productive projectile looms. Evisu denies the rumor, as they should, as rumors are just that. I am aware of Sugar Cane/Sugarcane and its history, that is why I said if I were to name a selvedge jean it would be them along with the Levi Vintage label, I did not say Sugar Cane was from the forties. You have such a passion for denim, what jeans do you wear and do you own many of the selvedge, vintage or otherwise, styles?

ZC25157 06 Dec 08 at 09:32AM

The odd thing about the history behind all this is that half of what you read on the internet is just plain wrong, i've seen history books that get major facts wrong about what exactly happened between the American and Japanese selvedge jean connection..

What do i do?
I design for Sugar Cane and 6 other Japanese denim manufacturers.. And i own Self Edge: www.selfedge.com

Stephanie R. 06 Dec 08 at 10:19AM

Thank you, I truly appreciate and have enjoyed the conversation.

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