In the fashion industry, Denim is a well-known and perhaps the most recognized type of fabric amongst the textile fraternity as well as amongst people who are genuine consumers of fashion-related products especially denim-made products. People tend to be more persuasive yet more inclined to buy denim-made garments, especially denim jeans. But wait for a second!...... Did I just say Denim and jeans together?....... Aren't they're two different things?!...... Well, let just sort this confusion first!
DENIM?.....Jeans?.....Both same thing?
Denim is one of the types of fabric just like other fabrics available and known to people around the world. On the other hand, jeans are one of the types of garment (pant) which also has different types. So, basically, if you are saying that you want to buy denim pants, that is to some extend alright, on the other hand, if you are saying that I wanna buy jeans for myself, that is also correct and both are the same things. But, try to understand the difference between a fabric and a garment. So, the next time you head to a shop to buy some jeans for yourself, make sure you ask them the right type of jeans instead of asking them to show you jeans of other fabric. There is no such thing as jeans of different fabric, jean is a garment made from the fabric of denim, that's it.
So, I believe things are much clear and crystal for you now regarding Denim and Jeans. Now, let us discuss the various type of jeans available yet some people are not really sure about the distinctive factors of jeans. To help them understand the various distinctive factors of jeans, let me enlist the various type of jeans first.
- Dry Denim/ Raw Denim
- Selvedge Denim
- Stretch Denim
- Poly Denim
- Ramie Denim
- Organic Denim
- Tencel Denim
- Wool Denim
- Silk Denim
- Linen Denim
- Crushed Denim
- Acid-washed Denim
- Sanforized Denim
As you can see, there are thirteen different types of jeans and each one of them has a certain distinctive factor that makes consumer interest upheld. But, what are the exact distinctive factors in all these different types of jeans? Let's dig deeper to find the crux of the matter.
The word dry or raw does not mean that this type of denim would have a dry or raw texture in it, else what that means is this type of denim jeans have not been pre-washed or bleached. It has only been deep-dyed with indigo color and makes it available for consumers to purchase. The reason for no pre-wash is to allow the consumer to make custom creases according to different body types. This type of denim jeans has few limitations or precautions, as this jean is not pre-washed or bleached. When it gets washed for the first time, most probably by consumers after wearing it for the first time. On the instance of first wash, it may get a shrink to an inch and a half and the jean also may leak some color on its first wash, because the jean has not been pre-wash or bleach, which basically helps to make the jean reduce shrinkage.
First things first, be it "Selvage" or "Selvedge" both are grammatically correct as well as recognized words. The only difference is the ethnicity of the word. Selvage is spoken and understand in the U.S on the other hand Selvedge is used and understand in the U.K.
Selvedge denim is a type of denim jeans that has a unique or stylish-looking seam from the inner side of the jean. Two separate pieces of denim jean get to stitch together to make the upper and backward side of a traditional pant and the inner seam of the stitch pieces do not look attractive at all, we all know that. But the purpose of selvedge denim is to make that unattractive inner seam more fashionable and desirable. Selvedge denim is made on small looms because the width of selvedge denim fabric has to be between 32" inch to 30" inch, half the width of other denim fabric. As you can see in the picture below that with 32" inch width both sides of the selvedge denim can be produced, on the other hand, traditional loom width fabric does not allow the makers to cut off selvedge ends properly as the middle portion of the fabric would otherwise be wasted. Stretch denim is simply denim jeans with more flexibility and comfort. A lot of times it is being observed that denim jeans low strectchability have made people desire for rather flexible yet comfortable jean than an un-stretchable jean. For that matter, the textile industry introduced a new denim jean which has flexibility and comfort. In the making of stretch denim jeans, a special stretchy, synthetic fiber called the Lycra is inserted along with the weft yarn. This elastane substance allows denim jeans to stretch which becomes a unique yet comfortable experience for consumers.
Poly / Polyester denim is a type of denim jean which has been blend with combination of two fibers, Cotton and Polyester. The P/C blend however is perhaps the most common fiber blend in the textile industry, but in poly denim the weave type is different. We all know that in order to weave denim fabric, Twill weave is opt which has a weave pattern of diagonal parallel weave of 2/1 or 1/2.
Poly denim essentially provides smooth, non-stretchable and non-wrinkle fabric as compared to pure cotton which has wrinkle property. This type of denim jean is light-weight, easy to wash and more dressier.
- RAMIE DENIM
Ramie is a natural fiber belong to flowering plant in the nettle family. This type of fiber has ability of holding shape, reduce wrinkle and it provides silky appearance. It exhibit greater strength when it gets wet but this fiber is not durable and it has a tendency of breakage if folded repeatedly in same place and this fiber has low elastic and elongation property.
The ramie denim is usually made up with a blend, commonly with cotton. Whereas, in the making of ramie denim jean, blend of ramie and cotton takes place with little insertion of lycra to provide bit of elasticity to the jean.
Organic denim is not about, plucking or harvesting denim jeans from a field of organic denim jean farm. It would be an amazing thing to have but that is not true. Else, organic denim means the cotton used in the making of organic denim fabric is 100% pure, free from any chemical fertilizers, pesticides or any
genetically modified organisms (G.M.O). The cotton is pure and organic, because in modern age the inclination towards organic yields have been immense and people tend to spend more on non-processed, chemically fertilized free products due to health concerns.
But organic denim jean do not have anything to do with health, rather the originality is more important for people than anything else. Pure cotton fabrics have always been a luxury thing for people and it is still considers as a symbol of privilege.
Tencel fiber is a synthetic fiber made from the pulp of wood, this fiber has the properties of being soft on the skin, it is strong and durable. This fiber often gets blend with other fibers especially cotton which gives tencel made denim fabric the property of being more breathable as well as more moisture.
Wool is an animal fiber as we all know which has the property of being warm, to say the least, wool have always been used in winter apparel. The concept of wool denim was all about incorporating the blend of cotton and wool to produce a denim fabric which would eventually provide benefits of warmth in the form of jeans or other type of denim garment.
Silk denim is an attempt to make a stronger fabric which would have immense drapability, sleekness, softness, and suppleness. All of it with sheer strength and light weight with ability to retain it's shape and resist wrinkling. Silk denim is also a blend of cotton fiber where cotton and silk blended together to produce a sleek, wrinkle free fabric with greater strenght.
Linen is a plant fiber which gets extract from plant named FLAX. Linen is a very summer friendly fiber which allows it to absorb moisture rather quickly than cotton therefore it gets dry even very fast. On the other hand linen is a wrinkle fabric which nonetheless makes it more classier as compared to other fabrics. The linen denim is also a blend of cotton and linen which produces a strong, durable and eco-friendly jeans to wear.
Crushed denim is simply a type of denim which is wrinkled all the way long. To produce such denim jean, a overly twisted weft yarn is inserted. Moreover the fabric gets washed which makes the jeans shrink more a little bit which enhance the effect of crush.
Acid-wash denim is a typical new style which is in demand these days, this type of denim is partially bleached with chlorine bleach which basically fades the original denim color and make it look like as partial white-blue shade jean which makes it look very attractive.
The concept of sanforized denim is to either make it shrinkable or non-shrinkable (Shrink to fit). The sanforized denim is pre-washed in order to reduce and eliminate shrinkage from the fabric while on the other hand the unsanforized denim is not pre-washed which allows the consumer to make it adjustable and shrinkable according to their body type, but in unsanforized denim the percentage of shrinkage gets upto 10% while the shrinkage percentage of sanforized denim is limited to 2% to 3% shrinkage.
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