Posted on April 7, 2010 – 13:35 in Features | Steven
The Oiler Wash by Edwin Europe
Everything moves in circles, trends come and go and so do opinions. It is, luckily, the way things work on planet Earth.
When I started working in the denim industry in 1997, the company I worked for just had re-discovered Japanese Raw Denims. It was a big thing at the time, and they certainly led the way, releasing two fits in raw selvedge denim way before any of the other major players in denim caught on to it. I remember the discussions about raw denim then like it was yesterday. People really weren’t into the idea, brands like Diesel had perfected the “Italo-wash” at the time, and that really was what it was all about.
In retrospect, I find it amusing that the discussions about raw denim certainly didn’t involve any of the heritage jacking of what we are seeing today. Back then, it was just something new and different, and it was really interesting how the market in London took it. Of course, the cool cats jumped on it first but to be honest, the trend didn’t last long enough then to make it an impact. Truthfully, denims from 96-2000 were pretty awful, awkward fits, and bad washes. Granted, there were a few specialist retailers, like Bond International, that were selling great Japanese raw denims from Tenderloin, but that really wasn’t the norm. By 2002 I was reintroduced to the denim world, this time as a buyer and two companies led the way in two different directions. Nudie had just appeared on the scene in London and they did some great looking washed denims. One True Saxon at the time, stormed ahead with fantastic fits in raw denim. Both brands sold like hot cakes at my store and they are the ones that made most of an impact on me since.
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