The Reference Council

The Oiler Wash by Edwin Europe

Scroll forward to 2003/2004 and with the explosion of streetwear in Europe, raw denims were all the hype. Washed denims were written off as cheating and always had a touch of badly dressed Italian tourists who were camping outside the Ministry of Sound back then. Washed denims were shunned. After having worked in the denim industry on and off for 13 years now it really makes me wonder as to why.

I totally understand the idea of raw denims, the personality involved behind every pair etc, but again, truthfully, this is not a new idea or trend and I am particularly bored and fed up with the current crop of cool guys talking raw denim like it was made from pieces of the holy grail. Here’s a piece of information for you: Everyone can make a pair of raw jeans. It’s very easy and it doesn’t involve a lot of talent to do so. In my book, and especially these past 2 years, it’s been a cheap excuse to hide a lack of talent in denim making. Everyone is hiding behind unwarranted supposedly-industry-inside geekness-discussion of raw denims. Really, it is not rocket science.

Making a great washed pair of jeans is on the other hand. It takes a lot of money, patience, research, trial & error to make a great pair of washed jeans. There are so many inter-dependent aspects of creating that perfect wash that it does all of a sudden become rocket science. That was also always a problem when it came to actually selling said jeans. Not only is the development expensive and time consuming, but more importantly, it is also a very geeky subject, completely void of any relationship to the consumer.

Personally, and I know it is pretty shallow, my biggest problem with previously washed denims that were affordable was that they were not selvedge jeans. It is my own little amount of dorkness that I have allowed myself. There have always been some Japanese denim makers that have pulled this off, but I will never pay 350 euros plus for a pair of jeans.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7