The Magic Happens. Fading.
Our 100% cotton Japanese denim. From left to right: raw denim, medium fade, full fade.
Did you know that your faded blue jeans were a very dark indigo colour when they were first sewn together? This is what we call the raw denim. Almost all blue jeans start out like this, until the magic happens - the fading.
Back in the day when Levi's men's working jeans were the only ones that existed, the traditional way of fading jeans was simply to wear them. No pre-fading existed. But as jeans gained popularity, people started asking for that worn-in, soft faded look.
The very first pre-fading was done through stone washing. That's right, literal stones were put into the washing machine with the jeans. Now, there are other ways jeans can get that well-loved worn-in look. Such as sandblasting, bleaching, sanding, scraping, cutting, enzyme washes and the latest technique of laser.
Fading denim is an exciting experiment, because each denim fabric will react to the washes differently. The indigo colour will fade uniquely and bring out individual characteristics depending on how the denim is made. The depth and textures that can be created is as much about the choice of fading applications as it is the choice of denim fabric.
At HERA Denim, we are working with a small industrial launderer in Melbourne. The owner, Sam, has been working with jeans and denim for 40 years. He talks about the days of Richmond (Melbourne, Australia) being the old hot spot of clothing manufacturing and how it’s changed so much over the years with most brands moving their manufacturing off-shore.
Our 100% cotton Japanese denim. From left to right: raw denim, medium fade, full fade.
We’ll be looking at the modern and more environmentally friendly (compared to traditional stone washing) process of enzyme washing our jeans, and then brushing them around the thighs and bum. This will give them a very soft and natural worn-in look. Take a look at some of our wash samples in the images throughout. In each image the jeans are all made from the same denim, but with different levels of washing and fading applied. The darkest jeans being the ‘raw’ denim.
We are working on two styles and two different denims. Both denims are made in Japan but one is a blend of 98% cotton with 2% elastane. The other is a very rigid or stiff 100% cotton. You can see in the images how the results vary with the different fabric contents.
Our 98% cotton 2% elastane Japanese denim. From left to right: raw denim, medium fade, full fade.
Our 98% cotton and 2% elastane Japanese denim. From left to right: raw denim, medium fade, full fade.
